OIL POLLUTION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 26, 30 July 1938, Page 10

OIL POLLUTION

GROWING SEA MENACE

DEATH TO BIRDS AND FISH

NEW ZEALAND

EFFECTS

The callousness of marine trade to the (deadly effects of the discharge of oil refuse within reach of coasts is a matter which has been taken up internationally through the League of Nations. Masters of oil-burning vessels are probably unaware of the damage the^ are doing when they dump such stuff, "and they are unfortunately within their legal rights in doing so outside the three-mile territorial limits. As far as can be ascertained there are

no available statistics as to how far oil will floaj before it is so disintegrated by wave action that it has no effect on the feathers of seafowl, but it is probably many times three miles. Once a coating of oil has gathered on rocks, it is added to by even the smallest floating traces of oil, and thus shellfish are eventually killed off. Seafowl and migratory aquatic land birds, such as ducks, offer the most spectacular instances of painful and lingering death caused by floating oil, but, in addition to the destruction of mussels and other tide-line shellfish, the heavier gritty oil particles, which sink to the sea floor ultimately kill off fish foods and deep-water shellfish. Without these forms of life there can be^no cleanliness, and, apart from the unpleasantness of oil-covered beaches to bathers, the coastline would soon lose one of its charms, the fresh, clean tang of the sea. " DOMINION INSTANCES. On the United States and British coasts the effects have been appalling. While New Zealand has not the extent of sea trade of older, parts of the world, many oil-burners visit its ports, and already there have been frequent instances of the fatal nature of floating oil residue on seafowl. Some time ago one man reported having passed hundreds of dead and dying penguins along the Kaikoura coast. Those not dead were dying slowly of starvation because they could not swim, owing to the clogging pi their feathers. The latest instance is from Littler Barrier Island, a bird sanctuary, where a thick film of oil came ashore and covered the boulders round the beach to such an extent that the beaches smelt like the exhaust from a car. Many penguins there were covered in oil. Some were dead and others dying. Not long ago Captain Falla picked up two penguins on the beach near Sumner, one just dead. Recently there was a big discharge of oil in Cook Strait, the source of which the Marine Department was unable to discover.; It drifted up* the coast to Foxton, where a large number of seabirds were washed ashore dead or dying. MARINE DEPARTMENT'S PLEA. Complaints about the pollution of the coast to be received by the Department, which in Thursday's Gazette, after referring to the position, issued the following notice:— "These deposits have a serious and deadly effect on bird life, and on many occasions a considerable number, of dead and dying penguins have been observed on the coast, particularly during May, when the larger penguins are making their way southward to their rookeries. The deposits, in addition to being responsible for the death of other seabirds, have rendered many popular beaches unusable for some time. While the discharge of oil outside territorial waters is beyond the limits of New Zealand legislation, masters will, it is felt, readily realise the effect of such discharge and take steps to ensure that no oil, or oil and water, is pumped out until the vessel is well clear of the land or is in such a position that there is very little chance of such matter reaching the shore or territorial waters." OIL-BURNERS INCREASE. In view of the great increase in the number of oil-burning ships going to all parts of the world, the menace

has assumed international proportions. In 1918 oil burners constituted only 2 per cent, of the total tonnage constructed, but in 1929 they formed 45 per cent. A game warden covering only one small part of the United States coastline reported having picked up arid buried 900 ducks, killed by oil, and the reports from Great Britain show what may happen on coasts where the passage of- oil-burners is frequent. AERATION AND FISH FOODS. " There was a two-fold effect of oil pollution on fisheries, it was ascertained by inquiries of the Marine Department, the result in deep waters well offshore,' and in coastal and inshore waters. Scientific opinion is divided as to the effect on fisheries of oil discharged at sea when the vessel is well off the land. In such places the natural aeration of the water by wave action and wind will probably not be affected by the oil to any great extent when the expanse d the water and the depth is taken into consideration. The oil would, however, probably affect surface-swimming fish and if the oil is driven towards the coast the ill effect would become increasingly evident. Oil on inshore waters is a different matter, as the oxygenisation of the water is affected and this affects all life in the sea, both plant and animal. When the oil sinks to the bottom, as it finally does, it kills off the minute plants which are the primary source of the food of the fishes. The oil is also harmful to the floatling spawn of fishes. Oyster beds are subject to damage by*this oil and, altogether, the damage done far offsets the cost of prevention. In rivers and in enclosed areas, such as harbours, .the effects are more serious. In really seivere cases of oil pollution the complete extinction of all marine life is possible.

■ It is not an easy problem to solve. The only definite solution would seem to be the compulsory installation on all oil-burners of separating plants for . treating the residue, from which j only harmless " water and oil would! emerge, the dil being purified for use again,. It is. not clear whether the installation of such plants would be. an economic, gain.. If not, the expense in the case, of smaller ships would not be welcomed by their owners. Such separators are, however, being installed in some ships. . • OIL IN HARBOURS. Penalties are sufficient to prevent vessels discharging oil in harbours in detectable quantities, but oily matter is frequently seen floating in the Wellingon Harbour. Much of this cannot be credited" to the ships, but comes from ashore. Pollution of rivers is a matter which has roused public opinion considerably, but so far insufficient attention has been paid to the oil refuse which is washed into storm water channels from the roads during every storm and is carried into the harbour. It is not so perceptible on such a large sheet of water, but in'1 Christchurch, after storms, definite patches of oil have been noticed on the River Avon. Every car drops a little oil in transit, and the aggregate of the drippings of thousands of cars daily must be considerable. In some cases garage workers have been seen dumping waste oil openly in' their sumps. There, is no necessity for a city bylaw governing this, a% it is well covered in the Land and Territorial Waters Act of 1926 which, after providing for marine pollution direct, sets forth that if any oil is discharged or allowed to escape "directly or indirectly" into any territorial waters, the occupier is creating an offence liable to a penalty of £500.