A COORDINATED response effort remains underway in Tasmania to address an oil spill at Lake Rosebery in Tasmania’s west.

TasPorts is working alongside Environmental Protection Agency Tasmania (EPA), Hydro Tasmania, TasWater, West Coast Council, and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE) to minimise environmental impacts and safeguard the vital waterway.

The spill was first identified on 13 January, with oil located around the Henry Bay Boat Ramp in Tullah.

Since then, the affected area has been found to extend approximately 30 km along the shoreline, requiring what TasPorts described as a comprehensive and multifaceted cleanup effort. The EPA estimates the spill involves up to 5000 litres of oil.

“It’s not known exactly how much oil has spilled into the lake, but it is a substantial pollution event, and we know that the oil is in various stages of weathering on and around the lake,” CEO and director of the EPA, Wes Ford said.

Under EPA Tasmania’s leadership, TasPorts has been actively involved in containment and recovery activities, including deploying booms to limit the spread of the oily substance and providing logistical and operational support to ensure the success of the response effort.

“As Tasmania’s port manager, we bring specialised expertise and a deep understanding of incident response to situations like this,” TasPorts chief executive Anthony Donald said.

“TasPorts is proud to contribute our skills and resources to this critical effort at Lake Rosebery.

“This response demonstrates the critical role of teamwork in addressing environmental challenges. EPA Tasmania’s leadership has been instrumental in coordinating this complex response, and TasPorts is committed to supporting these efforts to protect Lake Rosebery and its surrounding environment.”

The EPA said an initial analysis of oil samples collected from across the spill site has confirmed the oil has a heavy hydrocarbon profile, believed to be various lubricant oils. 

“We take any incident which harms the environment and disrupts operations very seriously, and the EPA is working closely with relevant authorities, including Hydro Tasmania, TasWater, and the West Coast Council to manage the response,” Mr Ford said.

“Due to the free oil that remains on the lake there is still significant risk to the public through secondary oiling of watercraft, ingesting fish product and human contact through swimming.

“The cleanup equipment operating on the water also poses considerable risk to public safety through vessel interaction.”

TasPorts revealed the impacted area has required varied recovery and cleaning methods due to the oil’s differing levels of weathering and the diverse shoreline types.

Working in tandem with EPA Tasmania and other agencies, TasPorts says it continues to assist in efforts to contain and clean up the spill, reporting significant progress has already been made in isolating the affected areas.

The lake has been declared a Prohibited Area by Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST) until at least 0001 on 31 Friday January, unless cancelled sooner, and includes all waters of Lake Rosebery.

Cleanup efforts are ongoing with EPA Tasmania to provide regular updates as the situation progresses.