Oil spill drill on-hand to clean up oil spill in Picton harbour

Thursday, 3 May 2018

Several tonnes of oily water and oily 'clumps' have been scooped from Picton harbour after a fuel spill on Thursday.

Harbourmaster Luke Grogan said the streak of oil, from Shelley Beach to Mabel Island, was likely from a ship's bilge, where fluids collected at the bottom of the boat. 

Maritime New Zealand were in Picton for an oil spill training exercise and were able to help with the clean-up. 

The marine compliance authority was trying to track down the culprit by checking commercial boats recorded in the Picton Harbour Radio log. 

**READ MORE:

* $10,500 fine for fishing boat's secret dumping

* Oil spill in Wellington Harbour not actually oil or a spill

* Mobil apologises for oil spill in Tauranga Harbour**

Grogan said the skipper in charge of the boat could face a fine of thousands of dollars or even jail time.

A ferry master of one of the inter-island ferries called about midnight, saying he could smell fuel in the water, Grogan said.

The response team found an oily 'sheen' over the water, but most of the 'clumps' had been collected by the afternoon, he said.

'The good thing about oil is it floats, so as long as we don't have much wave action or currents, it's fairly easy to clean up,' Grogan said.

Long orange booms were set at Shelley Beach near the Picton Marina to stop the discharge drifting ashore, while purpose-built boats collected the spill with a scoop.

'Oil spreads very well and can cover a significant area. It would only take a few litres to cover the whole entire harbour of Picton with a sheen.

'It's impossible to know how much is out there without knowing the quantity on board the ship that caused this. But I think we've got most of it.'

A drone hovered over the harbour, looking for missed patches.

Maritime New Zealand and Civil Defence had scheduled an oil spill exercise in the harbour on Thursday, so the area was conveniently flush with responders, volunteers and equipment.

'A ship-sized spill like we've had today is a Tier 2 spill … the council and harbourmaster become involved,' Grogan said.

A Tier 3 spill would invoke a national response from the Defence Force and Maritime New Zealand's 200-strong response team, which had contracts with construction and waste management companies.

'We've had small spills over at West Shore over the last few years. But we haven't had any major spills for a long time,' Grogan said.

'If a vessel sinks it can be a concern, sometimes we do get fuel or diesel coming out.'

All oil spills carried a risk to birds, fish and wildlife, Grogan said.

'But our environmental adviser is quite comfortable there is no need to take additional action to protect wildlife in this case.'

The exercise activities wound down on Thursday afternoon, but a response team would be at the site until at least Friday morning, monitoring the harbour for any remaining bilge waste.

Grogan urged both commercial and recreational boaties to report any sightings of spills, even if they were unsure what the residue was.

'If you see an oil spill please report it immediately. If we get to it early we can mitigate the damage.'

Irish tourists Michael and Maybeth Shiell​ said their impression of the country had not been tainted by stumbling upon the oil spill containment efforts, as they wandered along Shelley Beach on Thursday morning.

'It's just amazing how clean this country is,' Michael said.

'It would be a bit of a shame if someone had done this deliberately, but I suppose you do get spills at a harbour from time to time,' Maybeth said.

'It's a bit like your earthquakes, you've got to expect them, and prepare for them,' Michael said.