(Newser)
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It looks like Gulf Coast beaches will be getting periodic reminders of the 2010 BP oil spill for years to come. Tests confirm that tar balls washed ashore in the wake of Hurricane Isaac did indeed come from the infamous Macondo well, reports the AP. Isaac apparently dredged up oil from the spill that had settled on the ocean floor off Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. The amounts hitting the beaches aren't staggering, but an Auburn researcher says this likely won't be the end of it.
"We're in year three and this seems to be the new normal for the Gulf Coast," he says. "For some unforeseeable time, this is going to be the new normal for the beach."
