Maritime New Zealand is organising a systematic sweep across a 50-kilometre stretch of Bay of Plenty coastline to check for any oil which may have washed up from the grounded ship Rena.
[image:3551:third:right]The ship has been stuck on the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga since 5 October.
Maritime New Zealand national on-scene commander Nick Quinn says an organised oil response team will scan the beaches from Matakana to Maketu over the next few days.
The team will be made up mostly of army personnel.
Mr Quinn says they need undertake sediment surveys in the sand and determine how much oil is above the high-tide mark.
He says fresh oil from the Rena should also start to wash ashore along Papamoa beach on Sunday.
Mr Quinn says it will not be a large quantity but he hopes volunteers will help clean it up anyway.
