Tauranga oil spill court hearing

Mobil Oil New Zealand (“Mobil”) today appeared at the Tauranga District Court for a hearing in relation to charges laid by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (“BOPRC”), following a fuel oil discharge to Tauranga Harbour in April 2015.

“Mobil apologizes for the incident and for the impact it had on the community and the local environment,” said Andrew McNaught, country manager for Mobil.

“Our priority has always been to minimise the impacts to the local environment and to ensure a thorough clean up and restoration of affected areas in Tauranga Harbour,” he said.

The company worked cooperatively with the BOPRC to actively assist in the response and investigation.

“Mobil learns from all incidents and uses the information to reinforce our commitment to continued improvement. We have already made changes to further improve our operations at Mt Maunganui,” McNaught said.

Mobil has paid $1.8 million in reimbursements and other costs, including reimbursing BOPRC almost $1.2 million for costs incurred in the clean-up.

Contact:

Samantha Potts, Mobil +61 (0) 428 686 386 
Torben Akel Network Communication +64 (0) 21 942 05