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Oil Washes Up on Tourist Beaches in 'Brazilian Caribbean'

Associated Press

   RIO DE JANEIRO - Crude oil contaminating the northeastern coast of
   Brazil has reached the town of Maragogi, one of the region's main
   tourist beaches, its mayor said Thursday.

   Images on local television showed dozens of people in Maragogi, known
   for its natural pools of crystalline water, shoveling and raking the
   sand in an attempt to remove the sludge from the coast. The region is
   known as the "Brazilian Caribbean."

   As a truck from Brazil's environmental agency loaded up with
   oil-stained sand, some volunteers, apparently without supervision from
   authorities, joined the work with small shovels.

   Environmental regulator Ibama reported there are at least 178 locations
   in nine Brazilian states that have been affected by the oil. In terms
   of expanse, it is Brazil's largest-ever environmental disaster,
   according to David Zee, an oceanographer at Rio de Janeiro's state
   university.

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