Demand Answers from the National led NZ Government regarding the Rena Oil spill.

Demand Answers from the National led NZ Government regarding the "Rena Oil spill.
Article written by OURNZ Party 

On behalf of the New Zealand public, OURNZ Party is requesting immediate answers from the New Zealand Government as to the details and reasoning for a delayed salvage response effort with the Rena cargo ship disaster. (As of 12/10/2011)

Fining the Captain of the vessel and a "marathon" cleanup effort are not good enough, and we demand factual answers for the following:

1) Why was the response effort delayed during a period of 'fine' weather?

2) What were the contents of the alleged eleven containers which had "hazardous materials" inside?

3) What chemicals, in addition to Oil and ship fuel, have been spilled into the affected waters?

4) What is the Rena's cargo inventory and list in detail the chemicals and goods inclusive to the report.

5) Who approved the importation of Corexit into NZ in the first place, and was the safety of the product investigated thoroughly at that time and WHY WAS THE OFFER OF ASSISTANCE FROM COMPANIES THAT USE ALTERNATIVES TO CORREXIT REFUSED?

6) What has the Government done to alert the wider NZ public, especially in the affected region of the Rena's geographical position and the effects on tidal impact zones which will carry contamination to its shores?

7) Is the country of Rena's origin involved with the cleanup effort, has an agreement been made by their Government, and if so what is their involvement in detail?

8) Why was a contingency not in place to avert further damage from an already volatile situation in regards to New Zealand's environmental stability and effect from this disaster?
-which may be considered in regard to the next question:

9) Why over the last decade has the Maritime Union been down-graded to the point of allowing vessels into our waters that are not subject to a set standard of safety or structural integrity, thereby placing our environment at risk?

10) Prime Minister John Key says that the Government is committed to restoring the area to its previous condition. He confirmed that the insurance payout is capped, and that any costs beyond this would fall upon taxpayers. But there are no estimates as yet for the total cost of the cleanup effort.
-OURNZ Party's question: What are the New Zealand Tax payer's costs estimated to be, are alternative sources of covering the cost being sought (i.e. the company at fault) and how do you put a price on our land and waters?

11) Quote: “Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has released a statement saying they are not responsible for the Rena incident.

"MSC are receiving a number of media enquiries about the extremely unfortunate incident involving the grounding of Rena in regards to the belief that MSC is responsible for the vessel and/or involved in efforts to bring the situation under control.

"MSC chartered MV Rena from Costa mare Inc to carry some of its cargo. It is a common practice for shipping companies to hire vessels from other firms for this purpose. However, whilst the company is watching events off New Zealand with great concern and co-operating fully with the authorities, MSC is neither the owner of the vessel nor responsible for its navigation."

"The small minority of news reports that have described Mediterranean Shipping S.A.(MSC) as the owners of the Rena are misleading and inaccurate."

-OURNZ Party Question: Can this be confirmed? And if so, will the decision be appealed?

12) Quote: " Maritime New Zealand say that with the ongoing concern that the stern of the vessel may break away, salvage experts have three tugs mobilised either to hold the stern on the reef while further effort is made to remove the oil, or to tow the stern to shallow water where they will remove the oil. Naval architects are working on possible scenarios. A number of containers have now come off the vessel. Those remaining continue to move, making it extremely dangerous for salvage crews to work on board. Six vessels have been mobilised to intercept the drifting debris in the water. "

-OURNZ Party Question: Will the Army/Navy be deployed under order from the Prime Minister to retrieve containers by means of Aerial retrieval, such as 'heavy load Chinook Helicopters etc'?

13) Environment Minister Nick Smith said Corexit was no more toxic than dishwashing liquid and had been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

- OURNZ Party Question: Do you think that the People of New Zealand are that stupid, as to believe such nonsense, and will your Environment Minister be prepared to back up his reference quoted above, in a court of law, as our coastal citizens and clean up volunteers are affected by the toxicity of Corexit?

We, the NZ People request that the questions and concerns above, be addressed immediately and that an official Media statement inclusive of these questions, are released for public information through the NZ media.

Public information and resources can be found below. Additional investigation by the public is also advisable.

sign a petiton asking these questions of the NZ government here 

Information on Corexit here:

And here:

(Quotation from the above link, below)
[ Maritime NZ is using Corexit 9500, a chemical mix banned in the UK, to try and disperse some of the tonnes of oil washing up on the Bay of Plenty coastline.

"Two versions of Corexit are banned in the United kingdom because of their toxicity. They have been found to be carcinogenic and mutagenic," ]