C'mon NZ where's your "clean, green" policy?
I'm struggling a bit to get my head around why it took so long for NZ to start getting the oil off this ship.
Accidents do happen and I know that there is a great hew and cry going on about why the container ship hit the reef in the first place….well, in my mind, investigation into this question should take second place over the oil spillage that is happening along their beautiful coast and the threat to their wildlife (including the endangered NZ dotterel bird).
Why did they not begin immediately to get the oil off the ship?I know that the barge designed to pump the fuel off was in Auckland - but, c'mon, don't tell me that it takes 5 days to get the barge from there to Tauranga when a cargo ship can do the same distance around 24 hours.
If they had got that barge to the stricken vessel and begun pumping off the oil within even 48 hours - the environmental impact would be nowhere near as severe as it is now. Also the weather was pretty good from the Wednesday through to about the Monday….that's, ummm, let me get my calculator - about 5 days - right, that's when the barge turned up????
If they had got that barge to the stricken vessel and begun pumping off the oil within even 48 hours - the environmental impact would be nowhere near as severe as it is now. Also the weather was pretty good from the Wednesday through to about the Monday….that's, ummm, let me get my calculator - about 5 days - right, that's when the barge turned up????
Here is the link to a news report recorded on 10 October (NZ) time. The first item is on the oil that has come up onto the beach…..one environmental student with the same thoughts as mine - why? The second item is even more thought provoking - the use of an oil sponge product called Spill-sorb - why aren't they using it????Do people not learn from previous disasters and have immediate responses in place in case it happens?
Next question: Have the 500 defense personnel supposedly deployed to clean up the beach arrived? It's going to be a long, long job, but if they start now....and, please, use the Spill-Sorb - it'll make the job easier and quicker - but, hey, what would I know!!!....as of writing this - the clean up was to start a few hours ago - wonder if it did.
Here's a video on the Spill-Sorb product
UPDATE; 14th November 2011
I've now heard that the oil has all been taken off, well ... not quite, all, apparently there's just a little bit left. The ship is still on the reef, although it's broken up into three and a good storm would probably shift it. So now it's time to get the containers off (that's minus the ones that have already slipped overboard) - Maybe N.Z. is "God's own" after all....someone's been watching over them.
Here's a video on the Spill-Sorb product
UPDATE; 14th November 2011
I've now heard that the oil has all been taken off, well ... not quite, all, apparently there's just a little bit left. The ship is still on the reef, although it's broken up into three and a good storm would probably shift it. So now it's time to get the containers off (that's minus the ones that have already slipped overboard) - Maybe N.Z. is "God's own" after all....someone's been watching over them.
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