Australia ? Authorities declared a disaster zone Friday along a stretch of some of Australia’s most popular beaches after tons of fuel oil that leaked from a cargo ship blackened the creamy white sand for miles.

The government of Queensland state denied it had acted too slowly to stop an environmental disaster, and threatened the shipping company with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

National parks at Moreton and Bribie islands just north of the state capital of Brisbane were hardest hit by oil spilled Wednesday from the container ship Pacific Adventurer, and oil washed ashore in pockets along the Sunshine Coast.

The potential for long-term environmental damage was not clear. The affected area is far to the south of the Great Barrier Reef, which was not under threat.

Wildlife authorities said a few birds and a turtle were soaked in oil, but warned things could get worse.

Britain’s Swire Shipping Ltd., the Hong Kong-registered ship’s owner, said containers of fertilizer had slipped from the ship’s deck as it rocked in rough seas, ripping a hole in a fuel tank and spilling more than 11,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil into the sea.