Beads clean up continues on beaches

The clean up of the plastic beads that washed up on the beach on Monday continues.

The plastic beads, which measure 2.5 millimetres in diameter, do not represent any significant risk to public health and safety or to wildlife, but they are a visual nuisance and can be difficult to remove from beaches.

Beach grooming equipment is operationg between Papamoa Domain up towards the main Mt Maunganui beach.

Envirowaste has been contracted to remove beads under the co-ordination of the onshore debris management team.

Groups have been working along the Mt Maunganui and Omanu beach areas, using shovels, sieves and vacuum equipment. The area will be swept again by groomers over the next 48-72hours.

A Maketu-based Iwi labour team has been operating at Newdicks Beach.

While slower to recover beads than the mechanised equipment, these workers are making important progress to remove small concentrated deposits.

Twenty bags were recovered from the water off the north western point of Motiti Island late yesterday, and a member of the onshore debris management team is this morning expected to land on the Island to undertake a closer shoreline assessment.

The more settled weather has continued to dry out the beaches, enabling light winds to help expose beads buried along the surface.

Today's weather outlook is looking less favourable with north westerly winds and rain expected to build throughout the day.

Resolve is on site this morning to assess whether a diver inspection of cargo hold 4 can safely take place today.

Members of the public can report the location of any beads by phoning 0800 333 771.