http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/72344235/death-by-a-thousand-cuts-nzs-oil-spill-record-revealed
[videos, images in on-line article]
'Death by a thousand cuts': NZ's oil spill record revealed
TONY WALL AND ANDY FYERS
Last updated 05:00, October 11 2015
Almost four tonnes of oil has spilled into New Zealand's harbours and
oceans since the Rena disaster.
Since the Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off Mt Maunganui in
October, 2011, spilling 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, a further 363
spill-related incidents have been recorded, a figure a leading marine
biologist describes as "very sobering".
While most of the spills have been relatively small - ranging from a
few millilitres to several thousand litres - Professor Chris Battershill
of Waikato University likened it to "death by a thousand cuts" and said
there was need for heightened vigilance.
OIL SPILLS SINCE 2011
Documents obtained from Maritime New Zealand under the Official
Information Act show most of the incidents were related to commercial
fishing, offshore oil exploration and refuelling facilities. There were
also many spills involving recreational boats.
Tauranga, the country's biggest port, was one of the worst-hit, with a
number of incidents since Rena. In 2013 a German-owned container ship
spilled 1000 litres of heavy fuel oil and in April this year 1500 litres
of oil leaked from a Mobil pipeline during refuelling, washing up on
beaches and lawns around Tauranga Harbour.
Battershill, who led research into long-term environmental recovery
after the Rena disaster, said he was surprised by the data.
"The thing that jumps out at you is the very large number of incidents.
The overall frequency of these events is something to be concerned
about," he said.
In some ways, Battershill said, the environmental impact of continual
smaller spills in harbours and estuaries was worse than a big spill at sea.
"As dramatic as Rena was, it's difficult now to find any effect of that
on the beaches. However, small spills within harbour systems, if they
get into mangrove areas and sea grass, they can have a much, much longer
effect. If you can see it, you can clean it up, as was shown effectively
with Rena."
Battershill said Tauranga was one of the most pristine harbours in the
world and had yet to be affected by invasive pests such as
Mediterranean fanworm as Auckland's harbours had.
The environment was quite resilient, he said, but his biggest fear was
that on top of oil run-off from roads and stormwater discharges,
on-water spills would create the right conditions for invasive species
to thrive.
"These continuous pollution events knock out the resilience of the
harbour system. The reason marine invasives take off is because they are
used to polluted, compromised environments - they do better than native
species."
He said that although heavy fuel oil stayed in the environment for
longer, marine diesel could also have a devastating impact on juvenile
fish and invertebrates.
A "massive load" of pollutants was coming from the thousands of
recreational boats which went out each weekend, and he called for more
vigilance from all water users.
"It's just sloppy behaviour of boaties often...you see people being a
bit careless about changing fuel lines over and things like that. And
there's a need to make sure there are failsafe systems around the large
fuel lines inside ports."
SMALL SPILLS, BIG IMPACT
Nigel Clifford, Maritime New Zealand's general manager of safety and
response services, said there was no formal definition of what
constituted a significant oil spill.
"It's more about the consequences, and they depend on a whole range of
factors like where did the oil get spilled, what type of oil is it, what
are the winds, tides and currents, what is the nature of the environment?"
He said the spill from the Mobil pipeline in Tauranga Harbour in April
was a good example.
"It was actually a very small quantity of oil in a global sense, but it
caused an enormous amount of consequences. It got into reed beds, close
to shore, in a sensitive area in terms of environment and culture. If
that same volume of oil spilled 150 miles offshore, it would possibly
have far fewer consequences."
Clifford said spills were generally becoming fewer and smaller, and
there was better reporting of them, although there was a blip three
years ago.
"2012 was a bad year, there were nine [spills over 1000 litres]. We
would see that as unusual."
Fishing vessels were most frequently involved, and marine diesel was the
most common fuel spilled.
"You can boom for [diesel] and contain it. It has quite a reasonable
evaporation rate so a lot of it disappears."
Clifford said Maritime New Zealand was focusing its prevention efforts
on the areas of greatest risk.
"We're never happy if there are any spills. In the last two or three
years we've turned our attention to the fuel transfer sites.
"It varies enormously from a single pump on a wharf in the middle of
nowhere to sophisticated bulk fuel transfer depots for large scale
refuelling. We're doing a whole bunch of work around those...it's a
point of vulnerability."
He said Maritime New Zealand had done a lot of work around its oil
spill response capabilities since Rena and now had a better ability to
respond to bigger spills.
"We're trying to have a cleverer system, we move away from volumes to
more of a consideration of risk and what's appropriate given the
circumstances."
OIL STILL WASHING UP
Six months after 1500 litres of heavy fuel oil spilled from a Mobil
pipeline into Tauranga Harbour, globules of oil are still washing up in
reeds along the edge of the estuary.
Mangatapu resident Martin Neill's jetty and retaining wall were
covered in oil after the April incident, and today he points out what
look like large cowpats on the sand at low tide.
"There's still glugs there, I've just been gradually digging them out.
This will go on for years, it's not a 12-month fix, with the marine life
it effects."
Neill said the Bay of Plenty Regional Council didn't act quickly enough.
"When I phoned up and said 'there's a tonne of oil at me bloody gate'
they had someone come out the following day, that's far too long. If
they'd got booms around it straight away they could have saved hundreds
of thousands of dollars."
Neill believes there should be a barge permanently tied up at the Port
of Tauranga with all the best clean-up technology.
"I want them to put a proper spill programme in place. They say they
have - I don't believe they have."
Adrian Heays, the council's maritime pollution prevention officer,
said it wasn't a matter of "click your fingers and go" when oil washed up.
"It takes time to mount a safe response. You need to get people kitted
up and decontamination and the rest of it. Local people want to charge
in, but you can make it worse."
There were also cultural sensitivities because an urupa was nearby.
"It was a king tide and the oil was thrown quite high up out of the
water, it wasn't going anywhere in a hurry. It was better to set up
properly, do it once and do it right."
Heays said the council's response capability had improved since Rena,
but "that's not saying it's ideal, we've reviewed what we did and have
taken on recommendations. The more resources I get the better, I can
always use more, but there has to be a balance."
Mobil has so far paid $836,000 for the council's clean-up costs, and
may face charges. More than 200 insurance claims have been lodged,
mostly for cleaning oil-stained boats.
Samantha Potts, Mobil's public affairs manager, said the leak occurred
from two small corrosion holes in a pipeline. A pressure test had been
carried out the previous month and found no issues, she said, and an
investigation was under way into how the failure happened. The pipeline
remained shut down.
Heays said there was no excuse for spills - "there should not be a
single spill of heavy fuel oil in the harbour, full-stop" - but there
was far greater awareness among industry players and the public since Rena.
"Rena was a hugely traumatic experience and has left a big mark, but
...I think there's a whole range of benefits and it's flowed across New
Zealand.
"There's a real atmosphere of proactivism around preventing oil spills
in New Zealand now and I think it's translating into action on the ground."
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