8 April 2014

Regional council and partners contain diesel spill

Waikato Regional Council has been working with its partners to deal with a diesel spill into Lake Taupo.

The spill happened early this morning after a truck and trailer unit crashed off state highway 1 near Hatepe, between Taupo and Turangi, and ended up on the lake shore.

It is estimated that up to 700 litres of diesel has been spilt on to the shore or into the water.

The spill was initially contained with equipment from Genesis Energy and the regional council. Taupo’s Department of Internal Affairs harbourmaster and local iwi Ngati Tuwharetoa also assisted with the response.

Containment equipment has subsequently been removed and placed on standby as the council is confident the diesel will now safely evaporate naturally and pose no further threat to the environment. Evaporation will occur within approximately 24 hours, said incident response manager Derek Hartley.

“We will continue to monitor the situation in case the crash poses any other threat to the environment and oversee the clearing up of the crash site.”

ENDS

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