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Christmas Eve oil spill spreads to parts of North Beach

Flint Hills Public Affairs Director Jake Reint confirmed that oil from their facility has been found in other areas of Corpus Christi Bay.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Some of the oil that leaked from Flint Hills Resources' facility has been found in other areas of Corpus Christi Bay, said Flint Hills Public Affairs Director Jake Reint.

"We have had reports of sporadic material impacting various areas in the bay," he said. "Including -- a very small amount is in Corpus Christi marina."

Flint Hills Resources officials initially said 90 barrels (about 3,800 gallons) of oil spilled from a leak in a pipeline, however, that number was revised over the weekend to 335 barrels (14,000 gallons) of oil spilled into the local waters.

Environmental teams are continuing cleanup efforts for the Christmas Eve oil spill that took place in Corpus Christi Bay.

Reint told 3NEWS that Flint Hills has a command station set up at the Cos-Way Bait & Tackle stand under the JFK Causeway. Hundreds of workers, and dozens of boats, are being used in the clean-up.

"It's hard to say exactly how much longer it's going to be," he said. "We'll have a better idea. Once we're up in the air we will deploy our technology. We're deploying infrared technology; we have drones."

Texas State Aquarium CEO Jesse Gilbert said it's hard to tell whether oil that can be seen near that facility came from the Flint Hills spill.

"It's not unheard of to see oil, particularly when the wind pushes it up like this, so whether or not this is related to the event that's going on right now, I can't weigh in on that," he said.

Gilbert said the aquarium gets all of its water from the bay and is closely monitoring the contents of the water that's pumped into the facility. 

Reint said the company will continue its efforts to remove the oil until the job is completely done.

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