Oil spill cleanup improves, fisheries to stay closed longer

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Crews cleaning up oil from a spill off Southern California five weeks ago have cleared about a third of the shoreline. Lt. Christian Corbo of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Friday that crews have removed upward of 500,000 pounds of tar balls, as well as oil-tainted sand, seaweed and driftwood. The amount of oily debris collected each day is tapering off. Corbo says fisheries aren’t likely to reopen before the final week of the month at the earliest because it’s time-consuming testing fish for trace levels of hydrocarbons. No oiled wildlife has been found in a week.