A Tauranga surfer is calling for action in an effort to ban the use of Corexit dispersant used during the Rena oil spill.

Dominico Zapata is organising a rally against the use of the dispersant stored at the Port of Tauranga due to take place at Mount Maunganui Main Beach this Saturday.

Dominico Zapata is encouraging people to head down to Mount Main Beach on Saturday to show they don't want corexit used in New Zealand waters.

Speaking to SunLive today, Dominico says he decided to begin protest plans after seeing the recently aired 60minutes investigation into the chemical.

The 60 Minutes programme revisited the Corexit toxicity reports claiming serious illnesses and deaths of people in the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 oil spill there.

As a surfer who spends most of his time in the water, Dominico says the last thing he wants to think about is toxins in the water.

'There is over 180,000 surfers nationally and there are people that dive, fish, sail and walk on the beach, the ocean using population of New Zealand is massive.

'We need to know, and be assured, that when we go to the beach we don't have to worry about carcinogenic toxins in our waters. I don't want to be swimming in that stuff.

'We want to send a clear message to Maritime New Zealand and the Government that the ocean using Kiwis of NZ are not going to tolerate them using these chemicals in our waters.”

Dominico's concerns about the use of Corexit began in the wake of the Rena oil spill.

The dispersant Corexit 9500 was used on the heavy fuel oil spilt from the Rena in the days after its grounding on October 5, 2011.

Maritime NZ spokesman Steve Rendle said MNZ trialled the dispersant Corexit 9500 and a very small amount of Corexit 9527 on heavy fuel oil spilled from the Rena in the earliest days of the response.

At the time MNZ said the Corexit being used on the Rena spillage 'has been widely tested and has very low toxicity”. Usage was stopped a few days after the spillage when found to be ineffectual, Maritime NZ reported.

Dominico says it really hit home when he saw the 60 Minutes investigation and the effect Corexit has on local communities unequipped with the resource or knowledge to deal with chemical toxins in local waters.

The United Kingdom and Sweden have banned its use, and in the Gulf of Mexico people and wildlife have become seriously ill from it, says Dominco.

'When I found out there was still 3000litres of it stored in the port and over 70,000litres of it stored nationally, I thought 'well if and when an oil disaster, which we don't want, happens we need to know they aren't going to compound the problem by putting a toxin on it that is going to increase the toxic level of the oil”.

SunLive last week reported 3200 litres of the dispersant Corexit used during the Rena being stored in 200litre drums at the Port of Tauranga.

He says it's not just effects to the environment people need to think about, but New Zealand's reputation as clean and green.
'Our international reputation has taken a hammering in the last year with the Fonterra scare. It's an economic, social and environmental disaster waiting to happen.

'During the Rena spill a huge portion of population was really against the use or Corexit and this is their chance to come down and have their say and show the people who authorise the use of Corexit that the public doesn't want it.”

Tauranga City Council Mayor Stuart Crosby is backing the rally.

He has publicly raised his concerns about the oil dispersant agent and wants the Corexit stored here to be removed safely out of the country.

'In my experience when it was used on the Rena it didn't work. There are better alternatives to use.

'The other key issue the product stored here for potential use has the potential to damage our reputation and image.”

Stuart says while he has a prior commitment on Saturday, if he has time he will endeavour to attend the rally.

The protest is due to start at 10.30am on Mount Main Beach on Saturday.