Container Washes Up By Bowentown

Posted by Gold FM: Source MNZ on 16/01/2012

divers2

Another container has washed ashore today on rocks in the Bowentown area. It's likely that the container will be retreived by boat.

Beach clean-ups will continue in Bowentown and Matakana Island at low tide. Further down the coast in the Whakatane area, local contracted labour workforce are being activated to tackle debris removal.  This will cover the area from Whakatane to Torere, including Opotiki and Ohope beach.

The clean-up at Matakana Island continues – large quantities of timber, wool, twine and other debris, much of it oil-coated.  Some pallets of timber are almost completely buried in sand after the recent storms.

52 containers have so far been recovered from the beaches and the water and 18 others have been located, either on beaches or in the water

Sonar has identified seven possible targets between the Rena wreck and Motiti Island.

Wildlife field teams have been at Matakana and Motiti Islands today, and north of Waihi. Currently, there are 34 little blue penguins in care, along with three grey-faced petrels and one dotterel.