Oil Spill Washing Up Beaches of Southwestern France

January 3, 2003

Oil Spill Washing Up Beaches of Southwestern France
Residue oil from the sinking of the Prestige tanker is washing up along the beaches of southwestern France, a popular tourist destination.

According to CNN.com, mounds of tar-like oil are spread throughout the beaches of Biscarosse and Mimizan in Aquitaine, France. The small slicks measure about 10-meters wide and were pushed onto a five-kilometer stretch of shore on Wednesday.

Officials in the area are trying to minimize the economic damage caused by the oil spill and the army is helping environmental workers clean up the beaches. The Prestige tanker sank in November after splitting in half during a storm off the northwest Spanish coast.

For more on this story, visit CNN.com.