Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Beach incident shocks MP

By by Genevieve Helliwell
Bay of Plenty Times·
24 Jan, 2012 02:04 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tauranga-based list MP Brendan Horan is "disgusted" and "shocked" after a day at the beach ended with his 6-year-old daughter being covered in black globules of oil.

Mr Horan spent Saturday at Papamoa Beach with his daughter Leilani, 6, and son Kiahi, 11, who was competing in a nippers competition at Papamoa Surf Club.

As Kiahi raced, Leilani dug a hole and played in the water-filled pit "for about two minutes". When she emerged, she was covered from head to foot in oil, Mr Horan said.

"You could obviously see there were oil dots all over her. Some were the size of a 10c coin and others were substantially smaller," he said.

"But there were specks everywhere, in her hair and all over her skin. Kids don't know they're playing in this stuff, it's toxic oil."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Horan did not notice oil all over his daughter until the family returned home - as he and his daughter travelled in separate cars - and saw oil spots all over his new furniture.

"I thought how did that get there, then I took one look at her and she was absolutely covered in oil.

"It's disgusting, just unbelievable," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"She was playing with other children [in the sand hole] and if these poor kids put their heads under the water [in the hole], then this oil would get into their eyes and in their ears. I think it's terrible."

He immediately placed his daughter into the shower and used olive oil and a flannel and removed the oil globules from her body and hair. The olive oil offered relief and washed the oil spots away "very easily", he said.

Mr Horan wanted to warn parents of the dangers of oil on the beaches.

He was angry the oil had not been removed from the Western Bay coastline.

"I consider myself to be pretty aware but we can't have young children bathing in toxic waste," he said.

"As a parent I want to warn other parents but as an MP I want answers, because it's not good enough for people in Tauranga to bathe in a toxic mess."

The olive oil easily removed the oil off Leilani's body and she was left without a scratch or hint of irritation. Her pink togs were put into the washing machine but the oil did not budge. He did, however, manage to get the oil off his couch.

Papamoa Surf Club patrol captain Shaun Smith said last weekend was "huge" and estimated there were about 800 people on the beach.

He had heard of a few cases of people getting oil on themselves "but only when they've been digging in the sand".

Mr Smith said there had been no reports of oil in the water.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I would say the beach has been cleaner than normal.

"Normally I go down to the flags and see a few spots [of oil] but I couldn't see anything today."

Warning signs remain in place along the Western Bay of Plenty coastline, which stated the beach was "not the same as it was before the Rena grounded".

On the sign it said small amounts of oil would continue to resurface in the water and on the beach, which Maritime New Zealand spokeswoman Sophie Hazelhurst said would continue for some time.

"Maritime New Zealand is continuing to seek and receive reports of oil in the sand and water that members of the public have come across.

"This is expected as, although there has been a huge clean-up effort, residual oil will continue to surface in the environment for some time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"There is oil buried in the sand, on some of the rocks and, in some cases, submerged in the water.

"This will continue to resurface with tidal movement and will be most evident after periods of rough or stormy weather."

Toi Te Ora Medical Officer of Health for the Bay of Plenty and Lakes District, Dr Phil Shoemack, said a significant proportion of oil had been removed from the Rena but "unfortunately it's not possible to get every last drop out" and oil would continue to be found on beaches across the Bay of Plenty for a while to come.

"The oil is of much less concern now than it was when it first washed ashore and this oil is unlikely to cause any health problems. But it is still our advice to avoid getting oil on yourself and, should you get any on, wipe it off with soapy water as soon as possible," Dr Shoemack said.

Should any health symptoms appear, seek the advice of a health professional.

Ms Hazelhurst said Maritime New Zealand would continue to assess, clean and re-clean the beaches along the Western Bay coastline. She said while Maritime New Zealand did have trained oil spill responders assessing beaches every day, they could not be everywhere and the public information they continued to receive was invaluable. She said every report was followed up.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Maritime New Zealand urged those who come across oil on beaches - whether buried in the sand, in the water or on rocks - to contact 0800 OIL SPILL (0800 645 774) and give the best description of the oil they can, including its location and the amount seen.

If you are concerned about possible health risks as a direct result of the oil, visit www.toiteorapublichealth.govt.nz for more information.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

10 Jul 05:38 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM

The Under-18 and Under-20 women's teams won their championships.

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

10 Jul 05:38 AM
Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

10 Jul 12:40 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP