Oil spill exercise in harbour next week

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A training day on how to respond to an oil spill will be held at the inner harbour boat ramp on Wednesday.

The exercise will be headed by Tairāwhiti regional on-scene commander Phil Nickerson and will include staff from Gisborne District Council, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the Marine Pollution Response Service.

The inter-agency exercise is aimed at ensuring seamless and efficient capability should there be an oil spill here.

Annually there are around 200 oil spills across New Zealand and most of those are from human error.

Mr Nickerson said the exercise also helped with ongoing education in the community.

“We all play a part in looking after our environment.”

Under the Maritime Transport Act 1994 Gisborne District Council is responsible for responding to oil spills in the coastal marine area within 12 nautical miles out to sea from the Gisborne-East Coast coastline.

The Maritime Transport Act requires all regional councils to have a regional oil spill contingency plan.

The council’s Marine Oil Spill Contingency Plan is on the council’s website.

All reports of oil spills or shipping incidents within the Gisborne / East Coast coastal marine area must be reported to Gisborne District Council on 0800 653 800,  on the GDC FIX app on any smartphone, or email service@gdc.govt.nz or via the eFix service on  the council’s website.