HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- Crews cleaned up oily tar balls Wednesday that were washing ashore along a 25-mile stretch of beach from Fort Lauderdale to Miami Beach.

"It's a shame and whoever's at fault should be fined for it, seriously fined. This is our main attraction," said beachgoer Richard D'Albert. "It will hurt us financially if we don't take care of our most valuable resource."

The tar balls were first reported Tuesday and their origin was not known. Tar balls form when a petroleum product congeals in seawater. Among the possible sources are ship fuel and cargo oil.

The Coast Guard will not launch an investigation into their source as it is "impossible to tell right now," where the tar originated, spokeswoman Sandra Bartlett said.

"There is really not much to go on. Really what we have are tar balls washing up on shore," said Bartlett. "Our primary mission right now is the clean up ... We are monitoring the state's clean up."

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection hired Pompano Beach-based Southern Waste Services Environmental First Response to remove the tar at John U. Lloyd State Park, which was the most heavily polluted area. The company has two crews at the park.

A portion of Hollywood Beach was closed Tuesday and Hallandale Beach banned swimmers, but both were reopened Wednesday.

Many cities are doing their own cleanups. Once the tar is put in barrels, the company will dispose of them.

"We have seen larger than this in the past. It's not anything that is shockingly huge," said Russell Schweiss, spokesman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. "There were no reports of new tar washing up (Wednesday), so at this point we are in clean up mode."

In August 2000 tar balls and mats of thickened oil washed ashore or sank in shallow waters along a 20-mile area from North Miami Beach to Pompano Beach.