Response to Newcastle oil spill

Volunteers from Ballina’s Australian Seabird Rescue team cleaning oil from a pelican after the oil spill in Newcastle last week.

In response to an oil spill from a coal ship in Newcastle last week, president of Ballina’s Australian Seabird Rescue (ASR), Marny Bonner, has sent rescue team to Newcastle to help catch and rehabilitate oiled pelicans.

Marny said, while the Newcastle oil spill was relatively small and has been managed well, the event comes only a few weeks after her visit to the US Gulf Coast which was devastated by an oil spill from an off-shore oil rig.

“I’ve just recovered from my experience in the US and I look at photos the Newcastle rescue team have sent me and I feel ill,” Marny said. “It’s déjÀ vu. They are so like the photos I took in US – I feel like I got in and out of the Tardis.”

The oil spill occurred while the ship was berthed in the port of Newcastle and Marny said authorities reported they have recovered 12 tonnes of oil from the ship.

Marny said westerly winds had pushed the spilled oil into the Kooragang wetlands to the north of Newcastle.

“Migratory wading birds from the Northern hemisphere will be arriving there in the next few weeks and the port corporation is working hard to get it cleaned up before they get here,” Marny said.

“I’ve been walking around thinking this sort of thing could happen any minute. While it’s very unfortunate, the timing could have been a whole lot worse and it allows us to have a real life response drill.”

Marny said it was great to see a number of wildlife groups working together in response to the spill, including WIRES and the Native Animal Trust Fund (NATF). She said there were several teams working to catch the birds and others to wash the oiled pelicans.

“They are catching about five oiled pelicans per day and have caught 19 pelicans already,” Marny said, “but there are at least 20 more that have been spotted.”

The RSPCA has provided facilities where the birds can be washed in a hydro bath and local dog groomers have been arriving with more hydro baths to help out.

“I was talking to the NATF president and she said the ship’s company owner paid a visit to the site of the spill,” Marny said. “She said he became quite distressed at seeing the toll the spill was taking on us and the birds. It’s good that he fronted up and had a look at what’s going on.”

Marny has sent a submission to the government to allow her to run oil response training and establish an oiled wildlife response network around Australia. She said in future she hoped to see all relevant management authorities and communities work together towards the fastest and most effective outcomes for oil spills.

“What’s happening in Newcastle is a case in point,” she said. “It’s working really well and we will have a constructive debrief after the event so we can establish a framework for future responses.”