The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council prepares for and responds to marine oil spills in its coastal marine areas. Our Marine Oil Spill Response Team deals with these incidents. Oil spills that happen in freshwater (such as lakes, rivers, streams, and drains) are responded to by our pollution control team.
Both teams can contacted on Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Freephone 0800 108 838.
Marine oil spills are potential human-made hazards that threaten the coastal marine areas of Hawke’s Bay. They can range from small spills from recreational boats to larger, more serious oil spills from commercial vessels passing through our waters. Find out about marine oil spills and how they are dealt with in Hawke’s Bay.
Marine oil spills can cause serious damage to our coastal environments and the animal and plant life living in them. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council works with other agencies to prevent and plan for marine oil spills so we can minimise the impact these incidents may have on our environment.
If you spill oil anywhere in the marine environment you are responsible for:
- cleaning up the spill
- any costs involved in cleaning up the spill
- immediately notifying Hawke’s Bay Regional Council's Marine Oil Spills Response Team no matter how big or small the spill is.
Most marine oil spills in Hawke’s Bay are from pleasure boats refuelling at wharves, jetties, or marinas. Often they are minor and require little or no cleaning up. More serious spills could happen from large commercial vessels. Diesel is the fuel most often spilt. Most larger vessels that use diesel fill up while at sea. Spills are most often caused by:
- faulty dispensers or pumps
- overfilling the tank
- pumping contaminated bilge water overboard
- a leaking fuel tank
- accidents with other boats.
Jody F Millenium Oil Spill - Gisborne 10 February 2002
Under the Maritime Transport Act 1994, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council prepares for marine oil spills in its coastal marine areas and responds to them should they occur. Our coastal water quality monitoring site maps show our region’s coastal marine areas.
- Marine oil spills that require a response from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council are dealt with by our Marine Oil Spills Response Team.
- Oil spills that happen in freshwater such as lakes and rivers, are responded to by our Ready Response Team.
- However, in large spills, our marine and freshwater response teams work together with other agencies.
In New Zealand, marine oil spill response is classified into three tiers or levels as follows:
- Tier 1 - the spiller is known and is able to respond adequately to the spill. All industries with oil refuelling sites along the shoreline must have a contingency plan approved by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to deal with spills.
- Tier 2 - a spill is within Council’s territorial sea boundary (less than 12 nautical miles), the spiller (if known) is unable to deal with the spill, and the council is able to adequately respond to the spill.
- Tier 3 - a spill is outside the Council’s territorial sea boundary (more than 12 nautical miles) but within the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). If the spill is beyond the resources of the Council, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) is requested by the Council to take over responsibility.
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has prepared a Marine Oil Spill Contingency Plan, which is approved every three years by the Maritime New Zealand. The Plan outlines how we can:
- reduce the impacts of a marine oil spill
- help restore any damage to the environment resulting from the spill.
- We also carry out regular separate and combined training exercises involving our Marine Oil Spill Response Team and our Ready Response Team.
Under the Maritime Transport Act 1994, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council can prosecute individuals or organisations who cause a marine oil spill in our coastal marine areas. (Freshwater spills are dealt with under the Resource Management Act 1991).
Oil Spill Exercise - Setting Out Oil Booms - Waitangi Estuary 11/4/03
- If you observe an oil spill please report it to the Regional Council.
- Stay away from the oil.
- Reduce the chance of an oil spill occurring by:
- not leaving the fuel pump unattended when refuelling
- having cleanup material handy during refuelling
- regularly checking fuel lines and tanks for faults.
If you do have a spill, make sure you report it Hawke’s Bay Regional Council by calling Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Freephone 0800 108 838.
Spills less than two litres do not necessarily need to be cleaned up, but you will still need to keep a close eye on them and report them to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. Clean up or control larger spills using:
- oil absorbing material such as 'pillows' or 'pads', which can be wrung out into a container and reused
- absorbent booms
- products that break up the oil, for example, oil dispersants.
Different cleanup methods suit different situations - check with Hawke’s Bay Regional Council first. You can buy oil spill cleanup material from marine hardware merchants or call Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Freephone 0800 108 838 for advice.
The Ministry for the Environment (MFE) and Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) have also produced the free pamphlet ‘Every drop counts’ which has information on preventing and cleaning up fuel and oil spills.