Mobil is paying $691,307 to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council for the cleanup costs of an estimated 1,500 liters of oil spill incident happened in April at Tauranga Harbor. The oil has leaked out of a pipeline during bunkering of a ship at the Mount Maunganui wharf on April 27 and were washed up on to the beaches in the city’s waterways. The council has given the obligation of clean-up operations to Mobil Oil New Zealand.
Andrew McNaught, country manager for Mobil Oil New Zealand has taken the full responsibility for the incident and expressed his deep regret for the same. The company has paid the first installment of $421,307.80 and is followed with second, worth $270,000. He further added they are ready to meet all reasonable costs for cleaning and repairing the damage caused to the private property. He promised that they are directly paying the boat cleaning company to expedite the process easier for everyone. The company has received 166 claims with a value of $308,000, the majority of which were related to impacted boats.
Mobil is currently using a separate pipeline to the Oil Tanker Berthand to continue to do the same for the next three months until the leaking line is operational again.
