McAbee Beach in Monterey closed during hazmat investigation

The Monterey County Health Department and the City of Monterey said McAbee Beach near Cannery Row is closed because of a small leak on the sand.

Fire crews said the substance appears to be a type of oil coming up from the sand, possibly cooking oil or kerosene heating oil.The beach will be closed until the leak is cleaned up.

Crewsthat responded to the hazmat incident said the substance may be very old, dating back to one of the original Cannery Row businesses.

“More than likely this is probably some old vault with fuel oil that was put in there when this was a cannery and they were using that to run machinery or whatever energy source they need it for,” said Scott Kathey with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Kathey said there is no immediate threat to marine wildlife. Still, Monterey fire crews said they don’t know how much has been leaked or how long it’s been leaking.

“With the rains and the tides that we’ve had, a lot of this gets exposed and has been going for a long time but no one could see it because it was covered with sand or the water levels weren’t at the right level to show it,” said Felix Colello with theMonterey Fire Department.

City engineering teams will be on sight Friday to figure out where the leak iscoming from and how to dispose of it.