Regional Council supports the Rena response

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chairman John Cronin confirmed today that the full resources of the Regional Council are available to assist with the response to the grounding of the Rena off the coast of Tauranga.

Chairman Cronin said Council is incredibly concerned about the impact of the grounding.

“We have thrown the full resources of Regional Council behind the response effort being lead by Maritime New Zealand to try to minimise the impact of this incident on our environment and our community,” Chairman Cronin said.

“Council’s Regional Harbour Master was the first person to board the ship after it crashed into the Astrolabe Reef, and within a few short hours we had about 40 of our 270 staff working directly on the response.

“In addition to our maritime staff we have provided all the personnel that has been requested, including science and engineering experts, emergency management, human resources, communications, IT, logistics, planning and administration support.

“It has been great to see our staff working alongside other agencies, and particularly the staff from Tauranga City Council and Western Bay District Council in what is a real team effort for our community.

“All Council’s equipment has been made available to the team, most notably so far we’ve had boats in the water monitoring the exclusion zone and keeping unauthorised vessels away from the area and we have offered our booms, pumps, absorbent pads and anything else requested.

“We will continue to make all our staff and other resources available to Maritime New Zealand on this complex operation for as long as they are needed,” he said.

Chairman Cronin urged local residents to take care, and avoid the areas affected by the incident.

“People should avoid the area around the Rena, not just the 1.5 nautical mile exclusion zone but anywhere that oil is detected,” he said.

“We have confirmed that oil has washed up on our beaches, and people are finding oiled wildlife.

“If you do come across oil or affected wildlife, please don’t touch it but immediately call the response team so they can help.

“If you’d like to offer assistance to the response, you can register your details by calling 0800 645 774.”

To report oil on the shore, please call 0800 645 774.

To report oiled wildlife, please call 0800 333 771.