Barrier Reef oil spill: oil washes up on three beaches

Oil has washed up on three beaches following an oil spill off the Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Phil Walter

July 24, 2015

Tony Moore

brisbanetimes.com.au senior reporter

 

Palm-sized clumps of oil have been washed up Hinchinbrook Island, Great Palm Island and a third beach near Ingham after an oil spill near Townsville last week.

Maritime Safety Queensland and Townsville Water Police on Friday afternoon confirmed clumps of "weathered oil" had been found in three locations.

Oil has washed up on Forrest Beach near Ingham, on beaches on Palm Island and on Mulligan Beach on Hinchinbrook Island.

Hinchinbrook Island is a national park with no permanent residents.

North Queensland Conservation Council co-ordinator Wendy Tubman said she was concerned that oil had now washed ashore on three pristine beaches.

A 800-metre diameter oil spill was first reported by a Townsville fisherman last Thursday and broke up to an oily film spreading over 30 kilometres south of Townsville.

Ms Tubman said she was concerned issues had been downplayed by authorities and the clean-up was slow.

"It seems a bit slow, it's now a week later," she said.
"It seems like it was downplayed for a long time."
"Now they are saying they have actually found bits of it on land that you can see.

"But what about all the rest of it, that you can't see .
"How far has that dispersed and what has been the impact? 
Hinchinbrook Resort manager Alan Hamilton said he had not been to the island on Friday and said he knew nothing about oil film being washed up on the island.

"Nothing, not a thing," he said.
Mr Hamilton said no-one had contacted him about the clean-up on Mulligan Beach beginning on Saturday.

"Local and state government agencies are co-ordinating the shoreline clean-up at Forrest Beach with further action planned for Great Palm Island and Mulligan Beach on Hinchinbrook Island," the MSQ statement reads.

"The majority of oil patties are described as palm-sized and limited to a narrow tide-line over one or two kilometre stretches."

Last Friday Fairfax Media broke the story that oil had spilled from a boat near Cape Upstart south of Townsville.

The oil formed a film that stretched for 30 kilometres in metre-square clumps that was five kilometres wide in places, MSQ chairman Patrick Quirk reported last Saturday.

Townsville Water Police confirmed late yesterday a report of weathered oil clumps, or patties, drifting west of the Palm Island group.

"This is understood to relate to a report of oil in the water off Cape Upstart late last week with patches of oil sheen sighted during aerial surveillance on Saturday," a Maritime Safety Queensland spokesman said.
The clumps of oil are restricted to "one or two kilometre long stretches" at each beach.

Clean-up plans are being put in place now.
"Maritime Safety Queensland has trained shore-line clean-up personnel in Townsville who will assist local councils on shoreline operations.
"It's expected first clean-up crews will start Saturday morning.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and National Parks and Wildlife Services officers are also involved in the clean-up.

Oil samples have now been taken from 10 ships that were in the area near Cape Upstart last Thursday and Friday, an MSQ spokesman said.
Samples will be used to track down the vessel which released the oil.

Anyone finding unfamiliar material on the shore can report it to either GBRMPA on 0427 969 384 or to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection on 1300 130 372.

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au

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Barrier Reef oil spill: 14 suspect ships to be tested in leak hunt

July 19, 2015

Tony Moore

brisbanetimes.com.au senior reporter

Authorities are investigating 14 possible sources of an oil spill near the Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Jessica Shapiro

 

Fourteen ships have been identified as possible sources of a film of oil stretching, in broken sections, 30 kilometres long and five kilometres wide south of Townsville, Patrick Quirk, general manager of Maritime Services Queensland said on Saturday.

An oil slick was confirmed 18 nautical miles (33 kilometres) NNE of Cape Upstart on Friday evening, but was broken up into metre-sized blotches of oily film by the weather.
"We know the ships that went past the area," Mr Quirk said.
"There are 14 ships that we consider are possible sources of oil and we plan to take oil samples from all of those ships," he said.

"We already have samples from five ships in Australian ports and when the others port in Australia or overseas we will get samples."
Townsville water Police took samples from the oily film confirmed on Friday night, after an 800-metre diameter slick it was reported by a fisherman to Townsville's Coast Guard on Friday morning.

"So we will try a chemical match," Mr Quirk said.
A Maritime Safety Queensland inspector will fly to Weipa tomorrow to test oil from one ship, he said.
"So we are pulling out all stops to find the culprit."
In 2010 the Chinese ship, Shen Neng 1, which leaked a 3km ribbon of oil from a ruptured fuel tank near Great Keppel Island, was fined $1 million by the Queensland Government.

Mr Quirk said the 2015 oil slick south of Townsville had spread with the currents and broken down into an oily film.
"In an area about 30 kilometres wide and around five kilometres wide, within that rectangle there are areas of sheen and small patties of oil," he said.
"The whole area is not covered by oil or sheen. It is very patchy."
The oily film could not be detected on Saturday morning by planes using ultra violet light sensors – which detects water temperature variations caused by oil – because it was below the threshold specifications for the equipment finding oil, Mr Quirk explained.

"But we are about to do another visual inspection of the area, because want to make sure that we are managing the situation correctly," Mr Quirk said.
He said the oil spill was "not a huge slick of oil from a massive spill from a tanker."
"We are talking about areas of sheen – and within that - there are thicker patties of oil," he said.

Mr Quirk said the oil was weathering in south-easterly winds in slight to moderate seas and was most likely to break-down before reaching beaches.
He said while the oil was not visible to plane equipment, it was still in the water.
"It is quite possible that in a week's time – maybe in three days time – on some of the beaches around Townsville – there will be small globules of a spongy material found on the beach, because it doesn't all deteriorate."
Mr Quirk said it would not be like the 2009 spill from the storm-wracked MV Pacific Adventurer spilled 100,000 litres of oil along 60 kilometres of Moreton Bay coastline.

"It would be little tiny oily patches on the beaches. That is most likely what will happen."
Maritime Safety Queensland is concerned at the possible impacts on reefs to coastal side of the oil slick.  

"There are some reefs four to five nautical miles from where we saw the slicks of oil yesterday and we are going there with our aircraft straightaway," he said.
A helicopter which was to inspect the site has been diverted to a road accident.
Mr Quirk said he was confident steps were in place to prevent oil damaging the environment.

 "We believe we are doing everything we can – in a practical sense – to monitor the environment – to determine the risk and we are ready to respond, if required."

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au