Fresh oil is scattered along the high tide mark of Mount Maunganui beach and around Leisure Island this morning after being exposed by tides.

Maritime New Zealand also reports fresh oil on the stretch of beach between Tay Street and Maketu Spit.

MNZ national on scene commander Nick Quinn says the oil buried under the sand during the rough weather two weeks ago has come to the surface with the movement of tides.

Fresh oil on the beach in front of Ocean Beach Road and Marine Parade.

'The movement of tides and sand has brought it again to the surface, so we now have a new layer of oil to remove.”

Nick says the oil had settled in a band along the high tide line and up towards the dunes.

He says the reappearance of oil on the freshly cleaned beaches was not unexpected.
'Experience has shown us that this is what shoreline clean-up looks like. Beaches get cleaned, oil is revealed by tides or weather, and they need to be cleaned again.”

Nick says the oil spill response team was trialling beach clean-up machinery which would supplement the human effort.

Nick says beach cleaning machines have their limitations and the bulk of the work will be done through hard physical labour.

'Beach cleaning machines may be another asset in the toolbox. However, we have to be careful that we don't push the oil further into the sand by using heavy machinery. The machine's effectiveness also varies according to the characteristics of the oil in the sand.

'The reality is this is slow, painstaking work. We really must pay tribute to the volunteers who are cleaning these beaches inch by inch.”

A call-out to volunteers was sent yesterday, with the Volunteer Coordination Team looking for 200 people to carry out a beach clean at Papamoa today.

The group is due to meet at Papamoa Surf Club at 9am.

New Zealand Defence Force personnel are also conducting clean-up operations around the Bay of Plenty.

Nick says the salvage team continued pumping oil from the Rena overnight.

'Fuel transfer from the port number five tank stopped for a few hours yesterday afternoon while the pump was moved further into the tank.

'Work is continuing to establish a fuel transfer system from the engine room tanks into the tug Go Canopus.”