Beached blobs of fat foul shore

By WAYNE THOMPSON

White greasy blobs have been dumped by the tide on kilometres of beaches in Auckland's eastern suburbs, prompting a massive clean up.

Harbour pollution agencies suspect the white tide of blobs - some of them as big as pancakes - were caused by a spill of cooking oil at a waterfront tank farm.

Metrowater staff carted away sacks of the blobs off the shoreline from Okahu Bay to St Heliers.

But last night people at Kohimarama Beach reported a fatty substance was being washed up on the footpath.

The cooking oil spill - the third harbour pollution alert in Auckland in a month - happened on Tuesday at the Pacific Terminals NZ depot.

The terminal manager, Adrian van Engelen, said a small amount of Palmoline leaked from a faulty pipe gasket during a pumping procedure on Wynyard Wharf.

Mr van Engelen said pumping was stopped when staff on the wharf saw the leak.

He said the pipeline was tested for leaks seven days before operations but in light of Tuesday's incident, testing would be done three days before the pipeline was used.

It is not known how much oil spilled into the harbour.

Site inspections were made on Tuesday by the Ports of Auckland spill control team and a pollution control officer from the Auckland Regional Council.

An ARC spokesman, Wesley Smith, said that because the spilled oil was edible it presented more of a nuisance than a threat to human or marine life.

He said the ARC was testing the beached blobs to rule out other sources of pollution.

This month a stormwater drain at Mission Bay was contaminated with fat discharged from a local restaurant.

Metrowater spokeswoman Lisa Finucane said checks were made yesterday of stormwater outlets in the eastern bays and staff were confident the blobs did not come from them.

Sewers were also checked.

A fortnight ago, Kohimarama Beach was closed for bathing after a sewage overflow in the Madill's Farm area.

Residents of the eastern suburbs yesterday looked askance at the globules of fat on some of the best-known inner city beaches in Auckland.

Engineer Barry Hobman found beaches covered for their full length with a white bath-mark. "The fat is the size of dinner plates - it's disgusting," he said.

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