Rena Disaster

Taupo: City of the future

Kakapo population at threat

Japanese whaling

Baby bush falcon

FRESHEnvironmentalMagazineIssue Two

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CONTENTS

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10

8

12

Features4 RENA DISASTERA four page article on the Rena disaster. Discussing how it happened and what’s going to happen next. We look into how it is effecting the environment. Rena disaster is the worst maritime environmental disaster to hit New Zealand

8 TAUPO: city of the futureTaupo has been earmarked as the spot for the “Biosphere of the 21st century” with plans to build an off-grid housing community.

10 KAKAPO POPULATION UNDER THREATKakapo numbers are likely to decrease this year after the death of the third endangered bird since September.

11 JAPANESE WHALINGA proposed law change could see the Defence Force monitoring Japan’s southern whaling.

12 BABY BUSH FALCONOne day it will be a fearless predator capable of speeds up to 230km/h, but for now a rare newborn New Zealand falcon chick is just trying to open its eyes.

14 EDITORS PAGEMy thoughts and yours about this months issues.

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R E N A

RENA DISASTERNew Zealand’s worst maritime

environmental disasterAt 2.20am on Wednesday 5 October 2011, the 236 metre container vessel CV Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef 12 nautical miles (22km) north-east of Tauranga, sparking New Zealand’s largest ever marine oil spill response.

but tests proved inconclusive. Meanwhile, vessels on the water began recovering oil from the surface, and teams of responders geared up for oil to come ashore.

The Svitzer salvage team began working around the clock in extremely dangerous working conditions to secure the vessel and make preparations to begin pumping HFO off the ship onto the specialist fuel tanker Awanuia. But before they could begin, they needed to transfer fuel from forward tanks on both sides of the ship rearwards into two tanks nearer the stern of the vessel, which would be easier to access and less vulnerable to damage from Rena’s rocking motion on the reef.

As if this were not challenging and risky enough, a storm on 10 October prompted the emergency evacuation of everyone on the ship, as fierce seas battered the hull, shifting Rena’s stern sideways across the reef and changing its list. A week after Rena grounded, bad weather resulted in an estimated 350 tonnes of HFO spilling overnight on 11 October. Continuing bad weather the following night saw 86 containers lost overboard.

While the nation remained gripped by Rugby World Cup and pre-election fever, the response team and salvors held their breath and prepared for the worst. Thankfully, the weather finally calmed, and the vessel held.

Salvors were soon back on board pumping oil, while on the beaches, teams of responders and volunteers began the tedious and difficult job of cleaning up the tar-like, stinking oil that had come ashore. NOWRT also began receiving its first influx of dead and oiled wildlife.

As separate MNZ and Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigations into the grounding continued, the Rena’s

Carrying 1,733 tonnes of heavy fuel oil (HFO), a range of lighter fuels and

1,368 containers, Rena smashed on to Astrolabe reef at 17 knots (31km/h) and became firmly wedged. It then took on a dangerous list, with small amounts of oil leaking from the vessel.

MNZ’s Marine Pollution Response Service (MPRS) and Maritime Incident Response Team (MIRT) swung into action. As Bay of Plenty residents awoke to the news of the environmental crisis unfolding on their doorstep, teams of maritime safety and oil spill experts were already responding. MNZ declared the grounding a Tier 3 (or nationally significant) event at 7am – activating the highest possible level of spill response.

By 5.15am, an MNZ safety inspector was stepping on board the stricken vessel assessing the damage, with two more investigators on board in the afternoon. New Zealand’s National Response Team (NRT), made up of 60 specialists, leading 400 trained oil spill responders, was mobilised, along with caches of specialist oil spill response equipment. Within 24 hours, the National Oiled Wildlife Response Team (NOWRT) had established an oiled wildlife response centre in Tauranga.

The international salvage company Svitzer was appointed by the vessel’s owner and insurers on 6 October to manage extraction of oil from the grounded vessel. More vessels and planeloads of salvage equipment were mobilised. As the response widened, MPRS called on its international counterparts to assist, through collaborative agreements forged during other large-scale incidents around the globe.

As this work was going on, dispersants were trailed on the oil leaking from Rena,

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master and second officer were arrested and charged by MNZ with Maritime Transport Act offences. Resource Management Act charges also followed soon after.

Oil booms being prepared at Maketu estuary.Throughout the following weeks, many significant challenges were overcome and major milestones reached. A second bout of fierce weather on 1 November saw Rena lashed again by 5 metre seas and strong winds, with salvors, responders and locals gearing up for the worst. Accessing the submerged starboard no.5 HFO tank proved an ongoing battle, while new cracks also appeared in the hull. But again, the vessel held.

As pumping resumed, salvors passed the 1,000 tonne mark of oil pumped off Rena, while almost 1,000 tonnes of oily waste was also recovered from local beaches. Numbers of registered volunteers available to help with the response passed 8,000, and numbers of successfully treated wildlife reached more than 400.

Using a method called hot-tapping, salvors were eventually able to drill into the submerged no.5 starboard tank and attach valves that allowed the pumping of oil off the vessel. Although a slow and complex process, this ensured the removal of another 320 tonnes of oil – with every drop removed representing one less than could end up on local beaches.

With the last of the readily accessible

oil pumped off the vessel, salvors began turning their attention to the second phase of the operation: removal of the hundreds of containers still on board – a difficult, dangerous and complex task likely to take many months.

As both spill response and salvage efforts relating to the Rena grounding continue, it is still unknown what the final impact of the crisis will be on the Bay of Plenty region may be. However, what is known is that the impact will be felt for months, if not years from now.

Volunteershelp clean up the beeches

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Permanent health risksRena too toxic to salvage anymore containers

Salvage divers will soon find out whether water in the hold of the

stranded Rena is too toxic for them to use ordinary equipment.

Water samples are being tested in Hamilton after concerns that decomposing contents of containers had caused the water to reach toxic levels.

The area around the Rena, which ran aground of the Astrolabe reef near Tauranga on October 5, had a rancid smell from the container contents.

In the meantime Salvers are looking at new tactics to remove containers.

This afternoon members of the media had their first official viewing of the wreck since it broke into two pieces two weeks ago.

Maritime NZ salvage unit manager Kenny Crawford, speaking from a Coastguard vessel, said many of the containers contained products like food or animal hides which could make the water dangerous to ordinary dive suits. If the water had reached that level a specialised suit known as a “dirty harry” suit would be used, but it was less manoeuvrable.

Milk power was removed from containers today, put into carry bags and taken away by helicopter. Product was also removed from containers before they were pushed into the sea to be lifted by crane.

A new role of general manager had been created to liase better between Maritime NZ and Braemar Howells.

There were no reports of fresh oil but

teams had been monitoring Wahi and Bowingtown to minimise the impact of debris.

About 30 bags of latex gloves had been removed from the coastline, Braemar Howells spokesperson Grant Dyson said.

Crawford said though the ship had now broken in half the priorities were still the same.

“Yes we have had a catastrophic incident, we can see that, but it’s keeping to the plan.”

The focus was now on container removal.

Weather conditions softened this week, allowing divers to get to the sunken part of the wreck, about 44 metres below sea level, to assess and map the area. This would then be sent to naval architects and salvors to decide what the next step was.

“We are not making any assumptions, we are just getting all the information we can ... nothing is off the table.”

There were still about 800 containers on board.

Some of these would be pushed into the water and later removed.

The salvage workers that originally worked through Christmas are now undergoing health tests to check for any signs of irregular changes in there body

A rancid smell hangs around the stranded Rena, amid fears the water in the hold has turned toxic. Tests have yet to be completed and fears are that the Rena will no longer be able to be entered.

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TA U P OCITY OF THE FUTURE

Taupo has been earmarked as the spot for the “Biosphere of the 21st century” with plans to build an off-grid housing community.

Taupo has been earmarked as the spot for the “Biosphere of the 21st

century” with plans to build an off-grid housing community.

But, unlike its flower power forebears, hippies need not apply to the scheme, the brainchild of the New Zealand Clean Energy Centre.

“There is probably a perception that what you are going to end up with is a bunch of hippies, but rather our target will be white collar workers,” said the centre’s CEO, Rob McEwan.

“We are politically neutral, almost 80 per cent of our electricity is generated from renewables, we have ample water and we are friendly to Americans.

“So then the question for Taupo becomes how can we lure them to our community?”

A survey is being conducted by the centre to gauge interest in the concept, he said, and it could get off the ground as soon as a suitable developer comes on board.

The communal vegetable gardens and septic tanks will still be there, he said, but

The pool of potential community dwellers would include Kiwis and those from overseas.

“For instance, young, affluent Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are scouting around New Zealand at present looking for land,” Mr McEwan said.

“They are looking to get out of the US, live in a community with good water resources and establish a sustainable and `local’ lifestyle.” New Zealand could “easily” rise to be the No1 choice for them, Mr McEwan said.

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TA U P OCITY OF THE FUTURE

so too will be some of the mod cons of our futuristic lifestyles, including wi-fi internet and telephone services.

“This is about attracting people who have disconnected from the world, so to speak, who need only their laptop and smartphone to work and can travel anywhere and still work,” Mr McEwan said.

The development would comprise half-acre sections and the actual houses would be simple designs that resemble any ordinary Waikato development.

The family-style homes would be heated via geothermal or biomass sources, and electricity supplied via solar or wind

energy.

Wastewater would be drip irrigated to energy crops that would provide future fuel for the community. Water would be supplied via rainwater collection.

“The large section would allow for things like large garden spaces, which could be private or shared, and septic tanks,” he said.

And how much would a slice of green living go for? “It is an unknown cost at this stage, but part of the vision is providing affordable housing.

“We would be looking at a range of homes, all under $500,000.” Owners would also

have to pay about $60,000 for renewable energy technology add-on costs, he said. Taupo mayor Rick Cooper was wary of the “grandiose plan”. “But the council does like to support drive and enthusiasm and dreams.” The survey can be accessed online here.

Male kakapo Waynebo was found dead by rangers on January 2 after

his transmitter went into mortality mode.

Kakapo Recovery programme manager Deidre Vercoe Scott said the cause of Waynebo’s death was unknown and tissue samples had been sent to Massey University.

“An autopsy has been carried out at Auckland Zoo and, at this stage, the only indication of the cause of death is that he had a wound on his chest.”

“He had been completely healthy when routinely captured several weeks prior to his death.”

There are now 128 kakapo left - up from 49 in the past 21 years - but there was unlikely to be any breeding this year.

A poor crop of rimu fruit, which make up the bulk of the kakapo’s diet, meant there was little chance of breeding on Codfish Island and only a low chance on Anchor Island, she said.

“The good news is more than half the kakapo population consists of young breeding age birds, so the recovery of kakapo is still in good shape.”

Kakapo numbers are likely to decrease this year after the death of the third endangered bird since September.

KAKAPO U N D E R THREATNew Zealand’s most threatened bird

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New Zealand government are finally cracking down

on Japanese whaling buy putting through a legislation in early 2012.

The Green Party has repeatedly called for the Government to send a Navy vessel to follow the Japanese whalers and accompanying protest vessels in the Southern Ocean.

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However, the motherly instincts will not last long and, within 20 days, Staglands will start looking for a new home for the chick.

If it stayed in the same aviary as its mother and father Jet and Alula they would probably eat it, Mr Martin said.

By Thursday, the chick was trying to move its head and open its eyes a little.

According to the Wingspan Trust, the falcon is the world’s fastest bird and had been clocked flying up to 230kmh. It is a fearless predator with eyes eight times more powerful than humans’.

One day it will be a fearless predator capable of speeds up to 230kmh,

but for now a rare newborn New Zealand falcon chick is just trying to open its eyes - and get out of home before mum eats it.

The chick from the endangered species was born on Sunday at Staglands Wildlife Reserve in Akatarawa Valley, Upper Hutt.

Compared to an estimated 60,000 kiwi in New Zealand, there were just 8000 native falcons, Chris Martin from Staglands said. The latest chick is the first to hatch there in two years. It was born on Sunday morning and spent the first two days feeding itself on its yolk until its mother took over.

Baby New Zealand FalconBorn in Staglands Wildlife Reserve

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The recently sunken cruiseliner Costa Conchorda

An amazing photo of a surfer in Hawaii

Two cub polar bears hold each other for warmth in a hole dug by

their mother

The now extenct passenger pidgon

Calm before the storm a lightenting storm over Australia

Volcanic eruption

ourenvironment

Save the Kakpo, save our wildlife. New Zealand is well

known for it’s beautiful natural landscapes filled with

it’s beautiful critters. We have to do everything we can to save

that.James Stuart

I love this magazine. Since reading your last issue on

deforestation I have joined the volunteers at DOC in Arthers

Pass. In December i helped them maintain the tracks

protect the environment John Seagarle

I have always been against whaling. I’m disappointed at

our government a legislation is long over due and should have

done something soonerStacey Jones

Our government has created more problems then solutions

for the Rena crisis. I think John key was too lost in the

RWC to even find the Rena crisis. I’m surprised he was reelected last year. I guess

that’s why they call him Teflon John

Rain Scheimer

Editors PageThe page where I share my opinion and yours.

In this issue of Fresh environmental magazine, we have covered a few topics. A eight page spread about the Rena crisis. Taupos innovative ideas about the future of their city, the decrease in numbers of the kakapo, an anti whaling legislation in New Zealand and the new born baby New Zealand Falcon.

The Rena has brought many problems to our country, with a prime minister to worried about his world cup to take any notice of the growing problem in Tauranga. I feel sorry for the residents of the city as our prime minister should have acted sooner. Now they are saying that the water surrounding the Rena has created dangerous and toxic conditions.

I think it is about time that our government acted on Japanese whaling. I have been waiting for many years for parliament to even discuss it. Of course the Green party have been pushing for a legislation and the party leader said the Navy boats idea would send Japan a ‘strong message’.

Unfortunately the kakapo population is forecast to decrease these year with a number of deceased birds already recorded this year it looks grim for the native bird. On a happier note the native New Zealand Falcon has a newest edition. Lets hope the wonderful people power can keep increasing the numbers

So I finish by saying our planet has everything we need and everything we want. We are hundreds of light years away from any possible planet that can sustain life. So why ruin what we have. Stay green and Kia Kaha.

Mitchell PottsFRESH Magazine Editor

Editors Note Your Opinion

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