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| Karl Drury More than 500 volunteers assisted in the clean-up effort at Papamoa and Maketu beaches on Sunday, along with around 140 NZ Army personnel. |
Painstaking work sifting sand has seen volunteers using kitchen utensils and some No 8 wire mentality to help clear waste from Tauranga's oil-soaked beaches.
Colanders, plastic trays and mesh shelves have been used by volunteers as they work through the kilometres of coastline soiled by an oil slick from the stricken Rena, grounded on Astrolabe Reef.
''It's so difficult to try and pick up all the little pieces of oil with your fingers. The little bits have been covered over as the tide comes in and out,'' volunteer James Rust said. ''Using the colander or a tray is still really tiring but it helps get through more sand.''
Mr Rust, who volunteered through the Sustainable Coastlines group, had modified a set of stacking trays using mesh and duct tape for sifting.
A design student at Otago University, he said he had put his skills to the test after the first wave of oil was cleaned up and it began to get harder to remove it from the sand.
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| SIFTING SAND: Sikh Chamkaur Singh, of Tauranga, is among the many volunteers who crawled along Papamoa Beach yesterday, cleaning up the oily mess. |
"It's just a bit of Kiwi ingenuity.''
Although Tauranga's beaches were beginning to look more normal, fumes lingered in the air and the oil remained just one dig under the surface.
Hundreds of volunteers crawled on their hands and knees in the sand yesterday, collecting bags of oily mess as they went. More than 5000 people have volunteered to help so far. About 620 tonnes of oily sandy waste have been recovered, with more oil washing up in Mt Maunganui on Saturday night.
Crews were still working to clean oil from rocks and shells at Mt Maunganui yesterday.
''It's not as bad as some areas but it's still pretty nasty,'' supervisor Craig Anderson said, putting handfuls of shells into bags. ''The worst problem is the contamination zone, you have to take everything off before you can leave a place.''
Anyone leaving an oiled area had to remove their clothing or wash their boots. Lifeguards at Mt Maunganui had called police three times yesterday to remove people from the beach who were not wearing proper protection gear, in order to avoid spreading oil.
However, there was more help than hindrance from the public, volunteer co-ordinator Bruce Fraser said.
"What has surprised me more than anything is all the baking being brought in,'' he said.
''Just people rocking up from down the road with a cake. One of the positives is that it's really bringing the community together.''
Mr Fraser urged volunteers to ''stick with them'' as the cleanup was expected to continue in the days ahead.
- Fairfax Media