Rena costs recovery, prosecution likely | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

Plans are in place to charge the Rena's owners for liability as the Government looks to recoup the costs for the clean-up through the courts.

Environment Minister Nick Smith said this week the clean-up bill for the disaster had reached as much as $130 million.

Now the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Maritime New Zealand are looking to prosecute under the Resource Management Act.

Eddie Grogan, regional council group manager (water management), said a positive outcome from the courts could result in fines and refunded clean-up bills.

"The fine is limited by statute to $300,000 for individuals and $600,000 for companies and/or a custodial sentence not exceeding three years. In addition there is a fine for an ongoing offence of $10,000 per day that the offence continues," he said.

While the disaster occurred off the Bay of Plenty, which would usually mean the local regional council took the lead in prosecutions, in this case, Maritime New Zealand had taken the reins, with the council in a support role.

Neither the council nor Maritime New Zealand would comment on how any money awarded would be spent.

"Costs awards are more complicated, but can include direct costs such as clean-up expenses that have not been otherwise recovered," Mr Grogan said.

Meanwhile, salvors are making steady progress removing containers off the wreck's bow. The bow was listing, making conditions extremely dangerous for salvors, Svitzer salvage master Paul van't Hof said. "We are making good progress removing containers off the deck. We've removed 480 containers from the ship but there are 14 refrigerated containers and four wood containers still [on the bow] to go, and this is being done by people carrying out the contents of the containers."

It was unclear how many containers were still on board. About 250 were on the bow but where the ship split in two it was "impossible to tell" how many were on board or in the water. The number of containers in the ship's submerged section was also unknown.

Maritime New Zealand salvage manager Richard Lough said the focus was on "devanning the containers" on the bow - salvors would be put inside the ones on the bow to organise the contents before the containers were lifted off by helicopter. The focus of container recovery specialists Braemar Howells was on the Western Bay of Plenty, particularly Matakana Island and Motiti Island.

Spokeswoman Monique O'Connor said today debris would be lifted off Matakana Island by helicopter to a barge.

Meanwhile, milk powder recovered from Waihi Beach and Matakana Island is being tested by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to find if it is suitable for human consumption, fit for stock feed or must be dumped.

Oil spill recovery teams worked along the Western Bay coastline yesterday.