Seven kilometres off the coast of Queensland on Wednesday, March 11, 2009, the Pacific Adventurer was battered by the tail end of Cyclone Hamish. Suffering two punctures to the hull, the vessel leaked around 270 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, and five hours later the oil was washing ashore on Moreton Island and some of the beaches on the Sunshine Coast.
It has been referred to as one of Australia’s worst oil spills and prompted a huge clean-up operation involving Maritime Safety Queensland, the Department of Environment and Resource Management, and SEQ Catchments.
Clive Cook, Department of Environment and Resource Management’s Senior Director – Conservation, Strategy and Planning, said “The clean up, supervised by Maritime Safety Queensland has restored the bulk of our beaches and shorelines to their pristine condition – but there is still a substantial amount of recovery work to be done – and that’s where the volunteers will be needed.”
Heavy machinery has been operating on Moreton Island and on other beaches since the spill, along with hundreds of council staff and contractors. Now that their effort has wound down, volunteers will step in to continue the reparation work, replanting areas, restoring vegetation, removing small oil patches and monitoring wildlife returning to the area.
SEQ Catchments CEO, Simon Warner, said “The moment the spill hit the news, we received dozens of calls from people wanting to help – general public as well as coast care and conservation groups - and we have remained in contact with them, ready for the time when they are needed.
“Now that the clean-up is moving to the recovery stage, those volunteers are needed more than ever.”
SEQ Catchments has opened the first round of funding for individuals, community groups and local councils to apply for funding to carry out the work. Expressions of Interest have already been received from a number of groups and will be reviewed by a panel.
The second round, calling for further Expressions of Interest, is expected to be run later this year.
The Expression of Interest forms, and details of work, are available on the SEQ Catchments website at www.seqcatchments.com.au.
