Mystery substance on Pāpāmoa Beach not oil, says Bay of Plenty Regional council

The substance has now been identified as black sand that has washed down in recent stormy weather.

Black residue seen along Pāpāmoa Beach this week is not oil, or ash from Whakaari/White Island, according to Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

“Bay of Plenty Regional Councilstaff have completed an inspection and concluded that it was not oil on the beach,” council compliance team leader Trudy Richards said.

Pāpāmoa resident Anne Tapper went for a walk along the beach near Simpson Rd at 10am on Tuesday and saw black residue stretching in both directions along the sand.

“I touched it, and it felt a bit oily, but I wasn’t sure if it was oil,” she said.

“It’s widespread right along the beach and it wasn’t there on Monday.

The black substance on Papamoa Beach earlier this week.

The Bay of Plenty experienced stormy weather overnight on Monday with debris, slips and tree damage in the region.

Council staff went to check the residue to see if it was oil or ash.

Volcanic activity has increased on Whakaari recently, with some flights being cancelled today due to ash being emitted into flight paths around the Bay of Plenty.

“This was a natural occurrence where the wave action has eroded the top layer of sand below the tide mark, exposing the ‘black sand’ below, which contains decomposing organic matter natural to the beach environment,” Richards said.

– SunLive