New Zealand Herald
written by Paul Harper, Hayden Donnell, Jamie Morton, Matthew Theunissen, Newstalk ZB, Isaac Davison and APNZ
Tuesday October 11, 2011
A massive oil spill from the stricken cargo ship off the coast of Tauranga has become New Zealand's worst ever maritime environmental disaster, the Government says.
Environment Minister Nick Smith this afternoon said oil had been pouring out of the Rena at "fivefold" the rate it had in the days after the ship grounded on Astrolabe Reef.
He said significant amounts of oil would start washing up on beaches around Mt Maunganui from tomorrow and into the coming weeks.
Environmental response coordinator Nick Quinn said oil spills arriving from tomorrow would be much more significant than the clumps that washed ashore earlier this week.
He warned residents to prepare for weeks of cleanup work on beaches in the area around Tauranga.
The "tragic" spill was inevitable since the Rena grounded carrying 1700 tonnes of oil at 2:20am last Wednesday, said Mr Smith.
He promised the Government would hold those who were responsible for the grounding to account.
Transport Minister Stephen Joyce said the cost of the Rena cleanup had already risen to millions of dollars.
Much of that cost would be borne by the vessel owners under maritime law, but there would be a cost to the New Zealand Government, he said.
He added that it was a high risk situation.
"You're dealing with a game of probabilities and risk and you have to keep adapting what you're proposing to do constantly."
Oil spill increases in size
Maritime New Zealand said between 130 and 350 tonnes of oil leaked out of the Rena this morning.
It had previously estimated a spill of between 20 and 30 tonnes.
A spokesman said the massive new spill meant oil was now spewing from a main fuel tank on the vessel.
He said oil was continuing to leak from the tank and was heading south west towards Mt Maunganui.
"One of the main tanks has been breached. It is very significant in the scheme of things."
Meanwhile, the Awanui - which had been used to pump fuel off the Rena - was not on the water today because of minor damage received yesterday.
It was not known when it would return to the Rena.
Clean-up to begin at low tide
Teams of some of the 500 people on standby to help with the clean up headed out to Mt Maunganui and Papamoa beaches this morning.
They've been trained to skim the oil off the surface of the beach with the minimum impact and have been issued with protective gear.
The clean up effort on Mt Maunganui Beach begun at low tide today.
Maritime New Zealand also reissued a plea to people not to clean up.
"Although it looks bad, the oil in its clumped state is at no risk of going anywhere, and people attempting to remove it without the proper training or equipment risk making the situation worse."
Extra precautions are also being taken at a number of sensitive sites, including the Maketu Estuary where they've deployed a boom.
Rubber-neckers are being urged not to go down to the beach to take a look at the thick globs of oil washing up.
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