The Nation - News from Dec. 29, 1988

A team of volunteers on the Oregon coast was cleaning oil from birds that apparently were victims of the 70,000-gallon oil spill off the Washington coast. At least 60 oil-coated birds had been caught, of which about half had died by mid-afternoon. At least 1,500 birds have been killed or sickened by the oil off the Washington coast. The spill occurred last week when a tug rammed the oil barge it was towing. Jim Hidy of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge near Naselle, Wash., said the fouled birds found on the Oregon beaches probably swam through or landed on the oil slick and then flew south, coming to shore as they weakened.