University of Waikato heavily involved in Rena response

The University of Waikato’s Chair in Coastal Science Professor Chris Battershill is coordinating the environmental programme and providing advice to the emergency response team managing the Rena oil spill crisis.

Oil Clean-Up

He says the time taken to clean-up the oil will depend on how much is released and how quickly it is washed up. In previous oil spill incidents overseas, where oil continued to flow over a long period of time, clean-up times were lengthy.

Professor Battershill predicts the clean-up from the Rena spill near Tauranga will take months rather than years if oil is prevented from getting into estuaries.

He has advised against using dispersants on oil washed up inshore as it can be carried down through the water column and cause more damage to marine organisms.

While dispersants were useful in deep water, especially to prevent detrimental effects to seabirds, rough weather conditions had probably naturally dispersed the oil already.

Student force

A quick response was mounted last week to mobilise students who have been getting video footage and photographs as well as taking samples of the marine environments around the offshore islands.

Professor Battershill says PhD and summer school students will soon be deployed to look at the impact of, and recovery from, the Rena disaster.

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