SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas -- State environmental officials on Tuesday were trying to figure out exactly what the black, sooty substance is that washed up on a three-mile stretch of beach.

Texas General Land Office officials took samples after the substance washed up Monday and said it wasn’t oil. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also took samples and hopes to have an answer by next week.

People were being urged to stay away from the substance.

“It only makes sense,” the TCEQ’s Lorinda Gardner said.

Gardner said the substance was a black particulate that did not

appear to be harming birds or fish. She said the TCEQ was working with Cameron County to rake it up.

“We expect that it is not hazardous material, but that’s a best guess,” she said.

The town of South Padre Island referred all calls to the state officials.