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17 November 2022, 12:09 PM
Horizons Regional Council’s emergency management staff are responding to a suspected diesel spill in the lower reaches of the Whanganui River.
Horizons emergency management manager Ian Lowe says the spill was reported this morning via council’s Pollution Hotline and staff immediately got out on site to access the situation. “We can see what appears to be diesel over a large area of water between the river mouth and boat ramp,” says Mr Lowe. “At this point the source of the spill is unknown. However, we can confirm it is not as a result of river management work underway for the Te Pūwaha port revitalisation project at the North Mole. “We are mobilising equipment and more staff from Palmerston North to assist with the response. This will include a boat to access the extent of the spill and possible source.” Mr Lowe says the first priority is to contain the spill and remove as much as possible from the awa. “We will put inflatable booms out to stop the diesel from spreading out further and use absorbent pads to soak up what we can. There is currently an incoming tide which we will use to our advantage for containment. “While we will do our best, it’s unlikely that we will be able to absorb all the diesel and expect any elusive patches will evaporate overtime. People are likely to see lingering effects of the spill and Horizons will be monitoring the situation over the next few days alongside and under the leadership of hapu. “Our compliance team are also working to determine the source of the spill. At this stage we don’t believe it to be linked to any boats in the port either.” Mr Lowe says people in the port vicinity will see staff undertaking the work most of today and local iwi have been notified of the event. “We actually had an oil spill exercise in Foxton yesterday so our team are fresh on the required response for this type of event,” he says. For any environmental pollution concerns, please call Horizons’ Pollution Hotline can be reached via freephone 0508 800 800.