Oil spill response underway

Residents are being warned against trying to clean up the oil spill that coated upper harbour beaches in heavy fuel oil yesterday.

A valve or pipe under the Mount Maunganui wharf opened during refuelling of a cargo ship on Monday morning, pouring an unknown amount of oil into the water.


The extent of the spill is being assessed both on the ground and by air. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

It's not known exactly how long the oil poured into the harbour, but it is thought to have lasted over an hour. It was not noticed until the plume had fouled the Bridge Marina.

'It is important that people don't try to clean up the oil themselves,” says Regional On-Scene Commander Adrian Heays today.

'This is heavy fuel oil, and is persistent in the environment. We will be cleaning up any oiled areas using the proper equipment, so please do not attempt to do this yourselves or touch the oil.

'Today we are gathering as much information as possible on where the oil has gone and ensuring we can clean up as much as possible. There are booms under the wharf to contain what is there.

'We have reports of soiled boats in the marina, and one oiled shag has been reported, which is being cared for by the Department of Conservation. A land team is assessing wildlife in the area.”

Oil is covering around 300 metres of the beach at Maungatapu, which is about one metre wide north-east of Turret Road.

Most of the oil is trapped in seagrass, which will be removed as soon as possible. The affected beach is difficult to access by vehicle and the Regional Council will be using its oil spill trailers to clean up the oil.

All shorelines are being checked today, including Pilot Bay and Matakana Island. Spots of oil have been seen up and down the harbour and along the shoreline, but a helicopter survey this morning has found no more oil in the water.

Adrian is aware people will be keen to help with the clean-up, but he insists that it's important this is done by experts.

If you spot oil on the beach, please contact the Regional Council's Pollution Hotline on: 0800 884 883, or email: info@boprc.govt.nz to report small oil spots or oiled vessels.

Any oiled wildlife should be reported to the Department of Conservation on: 0800 362 468.

Mauao area wildlife trust director Julia Graham says shoreline patrols of the Mauao and Leisure Island penguin roost twill be conducted over the next few days in case there are any oiled birds.

The Little Blue Penguins that live at the Mount fish all over the upper harbour, says Julia.

'We are running a night rescue tonight and for the next couple of nights,” says Julia. 'The penguin team will be out there doing runs up and down Mauao and Leisure Island.

'Any oiled penguins will probably pop up at dusk, so hopefully if there are any out there they will get them.”

The penguins 'are pretty much seen everywhere” and have previously been seen in the areas around Maungatapu, says Julia.

Any oiled birds will be taken to the bird rescue centre at Oropi.

'They have got all the left over Rena stuff there, so we are pretty well prepared for this sort of thing now,” says Julia.

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2 comments

Really!!

Posted on 28-04-2015 12:03 | By festino lente

It is 2015, why is it ok for dangerous products in terms of pollution, to continue to be pumped with monitoring that does not auto detect a leak and shut off. The oil industry is a hugely profitable one,(along with the port being commercial) and this sort of practice needs to be tightened, rather than the massive expense that follows a stuff up. An hour is a very long time for pumping of product, which should be known exactly in terms of quantity given all product is metered on. ie they know pump rate and product flow, thus know volume that will be dispensed over an hour


Not good enough

Posted on 28-04-2015 14:20 | By maildrop

Who was responsible for this? Either the equipment failed or it was human error. Someone and some company is responsible. Make them pay.


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