User:IsntThisSpecial/sandbox

Media Coverage

The incident was not immediately brought to the public eye since it took place on October 5, 2011 , the same day the well-known American business man Steve Jobs passed away. . In addition to that, media outlets had their hands full with the Occupy Wall Street Movement that was also taking place at the time. . Information about the oil spill did not surface on major news websites until four days later when the CBC published an article on October 9, 2011 . British newspaper, The Guardian, then released a piece on the incident on October 10, 2011 , followed by the BBC on October 11, 2011,. As seen in various youtube videos , such as this one Rena Oil spill: Public reacts: 'That's pretty much our summer gone', natives express their distraught and concern for what has happened 67.68.49.219 (talk) 05:43, 29 March 2012 (UTC)Mary

Criminal Charges

• Two Filipino men were identified as the navigators of the cargo ship on the day of the spill. They pled guilty to a series of charges against them at Tauranga court. Both the men's names remain private for their own safety after release.
• The sentencing for both men was scheduled for May, 25, 2011.
• The Captain appeared in court on October, 12, 2011. Rena's second officer appeared in court on October, 13, 2011.
• Both men pled guilty to 'operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk' Rena's second officer appeared in court on October, 13, 2011. , changing the documents of the ship's history after the crash, releasing a hazardous substance from the cargo and to operating the ship in a dangerous manner. Nxxrm (talk) 22:29, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
• Each charge carries a maximum penalty of up to seven year of jailtime. Operating a ship in a dangerous manner is likely to gain one year of jailtime. Also, the maximum sentence for releasing hazardous substances into waters is up to two years jailtime or a NZ$300,000 ($252,000) fine. Nxxrm (talk) 00:28, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
• Both men were released on bail in 2011. Nxxrm (talk) 17:06, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• Both men still havent given reasoning for their actions and decisions. However, they are cooperating fully with authorities. Nxxrm (talk) 16:51, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Cleanup

• The cleanup for the Rena Oil spill will take time. Said by a New Zealand scientist Dr. Norm Duke "Petroleum oil will naturally break down - but this takes time and oxygenation. So, the longer the oil remains floating at sea - the safer it becomes. And, the rougher the weather - the better also" When this first occurred, volunteers in the area helped out as much as possible. Soon came The NZ army and Dept. of Conservation which started to clean as well. Brad.Czumo (talk) 03:29, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

• It took time for 'official' WWF workers to arrive on scene. Over the last 3 months the continued effort to clean-up the oil has persisted "The majority of the oil on board the vessel has been removed, however some oil remains in the duct keel which is continuing to leak into the ocean." says the WWF Brad.Czumo (talk) 00:08, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• In regards to other oil spills, the continued effort to maintain clean-up can persist for years BP Oil Spill is still continuing since April 20th 2010. Due to the costly measures which must be taken "About $1 billion has been set aside for those projects, an official says." Brad.Czumo (talk) 01:17, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• The Methods of cleanup are from the Maritime Transport Act 1994 and are broken into different tiers. "Maritime New Zealand said that a barge had begun pumping fuel from the stricken ship, but that work was called off to keep crews safe from heavy swells and gale-force winds forecast to hit the area. The operation is expected to last at least two more days once it resumes." Brad.Czumo (talk) 01:17, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• In the end the cleanup crew is still continuing to fix the situation, when it initially began "The team has managed to recover 17 containers during the weekend. So far, 227 containers have been collected by experts since the dramatic oil spill." The situation with the oil spill has been disrupted by aggressive mako sharks and ocean wells at the beginning of the cleanup. SylviaSS10 (talk) 21:46, 28 March 2012 (UTC) Brad.Czumo (talk) 02:50, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Past Spills

• There have been many other oil spills in the past, but this has been considered one of the worst oil spills ever. Similar to other oil spills the Rena "Because it's a cargo ship rather than an oil tanker, any spill would be small in comparison to disasters like the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, which dumped an estimated 262,000 barrels of crude oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound. But because the Rena is close to shore, the oil could still foul delicate estuaries in an area known for its pristine environment." Brad.Czumo (talk) 02:50, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
• The second most extreme oil spill New Zealand has experienced since 1990, was the Jody F. Millennium log ship incident. The ship broke free from the moorings of the Gisborne Harbour due to huge swells on Wednesday February 6 2002, attempts to keep the ship steady was not enough. It was unsafe for the people who were attempting to keep the ship in the wharf, so it was decided the ship to be set out to sea for safety reasons. A big swell hit the ship which then grounded on the beach. An estimate of 25 tonnes of fuel oil leaked out of the ship.SylviaSS10 (talk) 00:14, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Prevention

• The initial cause of the oil spill was due to beaching the ship. Because of this the ship had cracked twice on either side of the ship. This was dubbed to be fatigue cracks; because of this experts believe the ship is unsalvageable Brad.Czumo (talk) 03:53, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Salvage Teams

• As of 2011, there are approximately 400 trained responders to oil spills in the country. Marine Pollution Response Service advises that most of the responders have received low level training, estimating only 60 of the 400 trained to have achieved high level training. The Marine Pollution Response Service suggests that a higher level of training is required in various levels of response training.
• New Zealand is equipped with a National Response Team, however there have been reports of insufficient development to the information and training given to this team. Nxxrm (talk) 01:20, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• A salvage company named Svitzer was hired to asses the safe of coming salvage teams on the ship, and to continue to carry out salvage procedures. Matthew Watson, a spokesman for Svitzer, described the key tasks carried out by the slavage teams to be removal of oil off of the ship (specifically through a transferring process) and the collection of released containers and other waste. Salavage teams were helicoptered onto the ship, as that was advised as the safest way. (talk) 01:50, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Environmental Impact

• The Rena oil spill’s disaster on October 5th 2011 impacted the surrounding environment of the Astrolabe Reef and the coast of Taranga in New Zealand quite extensively. The MV Rena consisted of 1, 700 tonnes of fuel oil and 200 tonnes of diesel fuel . In the Bay of Plenty over a thousand tonnes of sand could be removed in order to get the oil out. After the oil spill of the Rena, 649 containers of cargo has been recovered.SylviaSS10 (talk) 02:12, 28 March 2012 (UTC) Unfortunately when this happened up to 300 containers were lost overnight. Brad.Czumo (talk) 04:07, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

• Within the range of where the oil spilled the rare New Zealand Spotted Dotterel bird and 25 other native birds species inhabit. Attempts by local people and 36 wildlife teams/centers to help save or decontaminate the avian species were established . Conayne from the Wildlife Rescue Center explains that a handful of fur seals had been captured to keep them out of the oil from the Rena. Another attempt to save the animals, specifically the Penguins, people made “penguin jumpers/sweaters” to prevent the penguins from becoming cold, or to clean their poisonous oiled bodies . The results of people’s attempts of protecting the avian species was success in saving 49 Little Penguins that were released back into the wild around late November of last year .SylviaSS10 (talk) 02:12, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• The tragedy caused about 2, 000 seabirds deaths. An estimate of 20,000 birds are thought to be victims of the oil spill through their ecosystem and food sources being contaminated . One outcome that is not yet determined is the effect on the ocean’s ecosystems in the area of where the Rena spilled the oil. WWF Rob Zuur explains “it would take years to know the full impact of the oil spill on the Bay of Plenty’s of ecosystems, which also contains huge marine kelp forests and is home to a large fishing industry". "Filter-feeding whales are at risk from sticky oil clinging to their baleen plates as they feed" said Al Fleming, Tauranga-based Central North Island field officer of New Zealand. According to Fleming, the oil's effect on finfish, shellfish, crustaceans and other marine life could be disastrous. In addition the oil will affect birds and marine mammals by entering them, the toxic oil will create different levels of long or short term affects SylviaSS10 (talk) 01:06, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

• Blobs of heavy oil washed up on the beach shores of Mount Maunganui and Papamoa, and were expected to continue to wash up in other parts of New Zealand. The beaches affected were closed until clean up crews arrived, and locals were instructed to keep a distance from the shore and the oil clusters. Nxxrm (talk) 18:51, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Reactions

• New Zealand environmental minister, Nick Smith, predicted that the situation caused by the oil spill will only deteriorate over the days. This was later confirmed by another comment in which he said that the rate at which the oil was leaking from the ship increased five times more than the rate of the leakage from the first day. Smith suggests that the impact caused by this spill is the most significant in New Zealand history.
• Reporter Karen Barlow of Lateline states, this may not be the biggest ever oil spill, but for the pristine waters of the Bay of Plenty, this event could be catastrophic.SylviaSS10 (talk) 23:44, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
• World Wildlife Fund spokesperson, Bob Zuur, confirmed the major loss of wildlife caused by the oil spill. Nxxrm (talk) 16:51, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
• Transport Minister Steven Joyce commented that salvage teams are working in unsafe conditions. Also the waters continued to wash up oil even after clean up which caused great discontent amongst salvage teams which had just cleaned that same area.
• Residents of the Motiti Island were concerned of the effects of the oil spill on their lifestyle because they rely on water filled in tanks and seafood from the waters for survival. Leaving the island for food or water costs approximately $100 to leave the island, this costly price, added to the toxic water and seafood rasied fear amongst the citizens of Motiti Island. Nxxrm (talk) 19:20, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

See Also

• Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills
• Environmental issues with petroleum
• Environmental issues with shipping

• National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan
• Ohmsett (Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank)

Brad.Czumo (talk) 01:05, 29 March 2012 (UTC)