$500K oil clean-up bill

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Tauranga MP Simon Bridges estimates that total clean-up of the oil spill in the Tauranga Harbour will reach $500,000 by the time it is finished sometime next week.

About 1500 litres of heavy fuel oil leaked into Tauranga Harbour after the first oil slick was spotted on Monday.


People are continuing to clean-oil from rocks and pick up other oil soaked debris. Photos and video: Tracy Hardy.

Mobil took responsibility for the spill after a visual inspection of a corroded pipe indicated that the fuel oil leak occurred from two holes in a 150mm diameter lateral pipeline.

Read more here.

Mobil New Zealand country manager Andrew McNaught says 'while it's difficult to make an accurate assessment of the volume lost given the circumstances, Mobil estimates the volume of fuel leaked into the harbour to be approximately 1500 litres”.

Today, Simon visited the Tauranga Bridge Marina were the clean-up process is continuing.

Talking to SunLive, he says it's clear Mobil are going to cough up the money for the clean-up, which is sitting at around $250,000 at the moment.

'At the moment the cost are pretty significant. When this is over, which will be sometime next week hopefully, we will be close to $500,000 for the clean-up. There is a significant amount of money going into this to make sure a good job is done.

'Mobil have said they are going to pay.”

When questioned about the prevention processes in place, Simon says 100 per cent prevention is difficult.

'That said, I agree with comments I have heard that 'whenever this happens it's not good enough and should never happen”. I think we will learn quite a bit out of this.

'We will see a thorough investigation from Mobil and we will also see that from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

'I think that every time an unfortunate incident like this happens, we should get better.”

Simon spent this morning talking with people who are dealing with the clean-up and many of the same people were also involved in the Rena clean-up.

He says a lot of them feel more confident about what they are doing now.


Oil covered seaweed is still being picked from the water.

'The processes are there and they exactly what they are doing. But it is just hard, laborious work that takes a lot of time and I am very grateful to them for what they have been doing.

'This is a very unfortunate incident and like everyone, we [the government] wish it didn't happen. But is has happened. We need to make sure we minimise the effects when these things happen and draw on robust systems and processes in place to do the clean-up as best as possible.”

Simon believes Tauranga was equipped for such an incident and says that belief has been backed up by the meeting he has had with representatives from Maritime NZ, Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Iwi alike today.

'There is a confidence about what they are doing. It's difficult, laborious work but they are working their way through it."

There is different tiered responses for these kind of situations, says Simon.

'This situation is what they call a tier two which means it rests with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to be overseeing it.

'That said, there is Maritime NZ people here in an overseeing role so I am very confident. It always takes longer than people want it to but everything that can be done is being done.”

SunLive asked Simon if the oil spill should have any bearing on the public's views of deep sea oil exploration and he says 'no”.

'This has been about a container vessel and a system failure regardless of deep sea oil drilling.

'Ultimately, as a country we trade and have ports and that's the situation here. We will be making sure we minimise the likeliness of these things happening. No one ever wants them to happen and if they do we will make sure there are robust systems in place to handle clean-up as best as possible.”

How is the clean-up process going?

Bay of Plenty Regional Council CEO Mary-Anne MacLeod says pollution prevention staff and volunteers are busy picking up debris and cleaning up rocks affected by the oil.

'People are scrapping down the rocks because the oil is black and sticky and can remobilise with the tide.

'The rocks have to be checked every tide to make sure it doesn't come back.”

She says some debris has washed up on Mount Main Beach overnight.

'We have had a couple of oiled birds and penguins. We will keep checking but it doesn't appear to have been a problem.”

Mary-Anne says they are 95 per cent finished with the clean-up at Maungatapu and will have teams back there on Monday to make sure there is nothing else coming up.

'Thanks to everyone that has been there. It's awful work in terms of cutting grass, overturning rocks and cleaning. I would like to thank the homeowners for letting us on their property to help with the clean-up.”

Mary-Anne asks people who spot any oil to call 0800 884 883.


Mary-Anne MacLeod, Todd Muller and Simon Bridges.

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4 comments

Simon Bridges

Posted on 02-05-2015 13:40 | By NZgirl

You are useless as a local MP for Tauranga it has took you 5 days to say anything on this.


Mini Exxon Valdez?

Posted on 02-05-2015 14:07 | By YOGI BEAR

Big mess, slow response and over the top costly. Oh that's right Councils were involved right? The named Oil company will likely "30 seconds walk away ...".


Estimate !

Posted on 02-05-2015 15:50 | By Jitter

Simon Bridges wouldn't have a clue. If he has quoted a figure of $500,000 to clean up it will be from one of the local advisors. Note Todd Muller has kept his mouth shut so far. According to the report Mobil are to cover the cost. Doesn't Simon look important !!!


Prosecution?

Posted on 03-05-2015 06:55 | By maildrop

Surely such corporate irresponsibility will end with a court case? It is simply not good enough to pay others (assuming they do, which is by no means certain) to clean up your mess and carry on as usual. The effects will continue long after the "clean up" and Mobil MUST be prosecuted.


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