Much to mull over as oil spill team stands to attention
An emergency in Tauranga harbour could well involve a lot of standing around, observed local resident Rosamond Bridgman as she relaxed on the beach.
Mrs Bridgman was enjoying the sunshine with her three-year-old daughter at Pilot Bay yesterday when environmental experts
rolled up to clear an imaginary oil slick as a training exercise.
"There's quite a lot of gear around and a lot of standing around and discussing," Mrs Bridgman said.
In the mock exercise a ship spilt 40 tonnes of heavy oil while bunkering at the port nearby.
The hypothetical spill was reported to Environment Bay of Plenty's pollution hotline at 10:30am, prompting an emergency response.
Workers from Environment Bay of Plenty, Maritime Safety Authority, Tauranga City Council, Port of Tauranga, Civil Defence, Whakatane District Council and local contractors attended the scene.
The carpark at Pilot Bay was closed to the public while the clean-up team launched the oil recovery equipment into the water. EBOP maritime manager, Jon Moore said it was an opportunity for the team to "to get out, get dirty, try the gear and refresh their memories".
A real spill of this type could cause severe harm to the environment.
"If there was no clean up with heavy fuel on the beach here, on its own it would take months, potentially years, to recover," said Neil Rowarth, manager operations of marine pollution response services at the Maritime Safety Authority, who came down from Auckland to monitor the operation.
