Oily sheen investigated
Whakatane District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council have issued a reminder to people
in urban areas to keep contaminants out of stormwater systems.
was noticed on the surface of the canal by people walking over the bridge near the Whakatāne
skate park and several calls were received by the BOPRC Pollution Hotline.
Monitoring staff from both councils investigated the spill. Bay of Plenty Regional Council
Pollution Prevention Officer, Jessica Hunter-Smith, said it was likely that a single discharge was
responsible, but that vegetation and algae in the canal had adsorbed some of the oil and was
slowly releasing it on each tide cycle, giving the impression of an on-going discharge.
Whakatane District Council Planning Monitoring Officer Pete McLaren visited trade premises in
the area and was impressed by the generally good awareness that mechanics and engineers
had about disposing of their oily waste. However, he noted that it only took one slip-up to have oil
in the canal. As the discharge probably happened several days ago, he said it was very hard to
identify the source.
The officers stressed the need to keep any hard surface that rain falls on clean. In urban areas,
rain becomes stormwater and ends up in a creek or drain somewhere. Trade wash-down areas
flow via an oil separator to the Council sewer for further treatment. Mr McLaren said it was
important that people knew the difference between these areas, as hosing away any spills outside
of the trade waste area could contaminate stormwater.
Ms Hunter-Smith has investigated spills in various waterways around the town before, including
the Strand Canal. “Even though the Canal doesn’t look like a pristine waterway, it is surprising
how much life there is in it. The eels and ducklings certainly don’t appreciate the oil, and each
time the tide goes out, it discharges into the Whakatāne River.”
She said it was great to have the cooperation of the District Council to help investigate urban
spills, which can be particularly difficult to trace. “Often we can find a source, but it can be hard
in tidal areas where a discharge can flow either upstream or downstream from the source,
depending on the tide. Unfortunately, we were unable to pinpoint the source in this case.”
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council offers a 24/7 Pollution Hotline (0800 884883) where the
public can report incidents of discharges to waterways.
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