The Good Oil – issue 18, October 2009

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Attendees came from regional councils stretching from the Chatham Islands to Whangarei. Also in attendance were representatives from the oil and salvage industries.

As always, there was a good range of discussion with many topics covered. A presentation from Drew Shannon, of salvage company Svitzer on the grounding of the Pasha Bulker on Nobbys Beach, Newcastle, in 2007 was well received.

MNZ Director Catherine Taylor also addressed the conference, acknowledging the hard work and enthusiasm the regional responders brought to New Zealand’s oil spill response system.
Regional representatives gave presentations on oil spills and exercises from around the country, providing plenty of interest and lessons to think about.

MPRS group manager Nick Quinn says the workshops were always a useful tool for sharing ideas and concerns.

Some of the key topics of discussion at the conference included:

• Smaller regions expressing concern that they may not have enough responders to cope with a large Tier 2 spill. Discussion around exploring options of involving neighbouring regions and developing exercise relationships between regions.
• MNZ is due to launch a capability review of New Zealand’s entire oil spill response late this year or early next year. Regions said they wanted to be kept informed and involved.
• Revalidation of responders – there was interest in the idea of revalidation through exercises, or using log books as a method of revalidation.
• Tier 1 site audits were discussed, with a request for more support for the regions from MPRS

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