Beachcombing at Goleta Point (posted June 6, 2002)
http://www.greatoutdoors.com/published/beachcombing-at-goleta-point
"What you'll need: Be sure to wear surf-shoes or old sneakers to avoid getting tar on your feet on the beach near the tidewater oil field. Bring sunscreen, a hat or visor and two quarts of water for today's long beach walk. Dogs are not allowed on the beach."
Downtown Los Angeles has natural tar seeps (most famously, the La Brea Tar Pits seeps at Curzon and Wilshire). It's a part of the landscape.
“Beachcombing at Goleta Point (posted June 6, 2002)”
By 2000 there wasn’t 10% of what it was in the mid 50s because of the oil rigs in the Santa Barbara channel reducing the natural flow.
In the 50s, no one but a stupid tourist would ever go to that beachQQ