PaulR 3 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Thinking about our little world and the email from Tauranga Marina, I wonder what would happen if there was a spill here in Auckland. Guess what Is our biggest danger knot the tank farm that is the eastern wall of Westhaven Marina Certainly there are less oil tanks than a few years ago, now that there is a pipeline from the refinery to Wiri tank depot. However I believe this is mainly used for lighter fuels, petrol and diesel. The heavier ship fuels are brought in by tankers and delivered to the ships by a fuel barge. So some questions. 1). Is there an oil boom ready to go across the two small gaps to isolate Westhaven from an oil spill in the harbour 2). Where is it stored 3). How long does it take to be fully deployed 4). is this quick and effective enough 5). When was it last tested and tried 6). If Auckland's prevailing wind is SW, how organised are the Bayswater Marina and Devonport areas, especially on the flood tide 7). How quickly could the Westhaven Marine be emptied by lifting all boats out and where do they go, cradles, travel lifts, transporters etc. Orams would need to remove masts as well to transport boats out of their yard. Now where did that A pier mast gantry go . Does one start with the smallest or largest boats first 9). Who knows who cares Any public info / plans available. Who cares who knows Timer starts "NOW" "GO" Link to post Share on other sites
johnMi 2 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Call me a selfish bastard but unless we get an oilspill to coincide with a tsunami, it would not effect me, apart from having no one to race Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Thinking about our little world and the email from Tauranga Marina, I wonder what would happen if there was a spill here in Auckland. Guess what Is our biggest danger knot the tank farm that is the eastern wall of Westhaven Marina Certainly there are less oil tanks than a few years ago, now that there is a pipeline from the refinery to Wiri tank depot. However I believe this is mainly used for lighter fuels, petrol and diesel. The heavier ship fuels are brought in by tankers and delivered to the ships by a fuel barge. So some questions. 1). Is there an oil boom ready to go across the two small gaps to isolate Westhaven from an oil spill in the harbour 2). Where is it stored 3). How long does it take to be fully deployed 4). is this quick and effective enough 5). When was it last tested and tried 6). If Auckland's prevailing wind is SW, how organised are the Bayswater Marina and Devonport areas, especially on the flood tide 7). How quickly could the Westhaven Marine be emptied by lifting all boats out and where do they go, cradles, travel lifts, transporters etc. Orams would need to remove masts as well to transport boats out of their yard. Now where did that A pier mast gantry go . Does one start with the smallest or largest boats first 9). Who knows who cares Any public info / plans available. Who cares who knows Timer starts "NOW" "GO" hmmmm. wheres nick when you need him. He would be able to let everyone know since hes the operation manager for westhaven. I know hes on this site, but he doesnt come on that often. Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 The heavier ship fuels are brought in by tankers and delivered to the ships by a fuel barge. The barge that did that job was called the Tolema - she is no longer doing that - The Awanuia goes to Marsden Pt to load. Tankers still deliver stuff to Wynyard - not sure how much HFO is stored at Wynyard now hmmmm. wheres nick when you need him. He would be able to let everyone know since hes the operation manager for westhaven. I know hes on this site, but he doesnt come on that often. If you are meaning Nick Lewis he is in Tauranga with tug and barge - this morning he was heading out of hte harbour to tow a few containers away Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 You guys talking 2 different Nicks?? Boom in Westhaven to look after the boats if something goes bad = yeah right!! Since when did Akl CC see any recreational boat as anything more than a cash cow or just a hindrance stopping them turning it all into a super boat base? Link to post Share on other sites
PaulR 3 Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 With the increase in Super yachts recently, the building of the new large piers etc would be just the reason to have suitable equipment on site, ready for immediate deployment. After all, most super yacht owners are verrrrrrry wealthy, and a annoyed and pissed off one can be a cause of much frustration and litigation, as they would have a well used legal team already. The average kiwi in Westhaven would possibly not have the contacts nor the money. Link to post Share on other sites
Grinna 2 Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I would have thought that the floating piers and fingers would be fairly effective as oil barriers so you're probably best off keeping your boat in it's berth. You'd need to plug the gaps between the sections of the floating piers and fingers to prevent the oil from getting through and then you'd need to boom off the mouth of the berth (and possibly your neighbour's berth as well ... more for pragmatic oil contamination reasons than being a bloody good neighbour bloke). Then you get your insurance agent on the phone and get him primed for bad news, pour a strong rum drink and see how it progresses. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Sorry bloke, the worst polution in westhaven is and has always been off the land via stormwater runoff and drainage from the bridge/motorway, My step grandfather did the water quality readings in 1982 when they were reconfiguring westhaven and the results were scarey even then with regard to heavy metals, oil and basically rubber buildup etc ,Boat antifouling( and this was in the days of TBT) didnt feature at all as a pollutant and unless you're a nitpicking greenie still doesnt in relation to what still runs off the motorway daily, never mind what'd arrive from an upended oil tanker Link to post Share on other sites
Grinna 2 Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 You're right L4, a large chunk of the stormwater that runs off the southern part of the harbour bridge and the motorway approaches goes into Westhaven and much of it enters the marina in the worst place for flushing it out of the marina. In addition there have been in the past a lot of contaminants introduced to the marina from the gas works, the tank farm area and the marine engineering and maintenance works along the eastern side of Westhaven (it would almost be economically viable to mine some of the sediments in that area and extract the metals .... seriously). Having said that, things have changed (just a lot) since the early 80s. There is still roadway derived stormwater entering the marina and there is still a degree of contamination in that stormwater, however, there have been significant advances in treatment solutions. Interestingly, one of the biggest contributors to metallic contamination in marina sediments generally is zinc anodes. Boats that start fizzing cause very rapid erosion of anodes on surrounding boats and that zinc tends to settle out and accumulate in the sediments. Water quality in Westhaven is, generally speaking, not that bad. Its not pristine by any means, but it aint a toxic hellhole either. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Twasn't that long ago and I'm talking only a year or 2 that raw sewage emptied into Westhaven if the system over loaded. I'm told that has now been fixed. The water quality in there now is far better than it was. I remember jumping in for bum scrubbing only a few short years back and you'd come out with a coating of some yucky sort. Last year that wasn't happening. Also we've seen a huge increase in fish life in there over the last 5 or so years. Link to post Share on other sites
ex Elly 197 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Latest Westhaven newsletter says that all that have now installed 5 filters for the road runoff. Also says that they have a Blue flag. Link to post Share on other sites
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