River hit by diesel spill

The Wairoa River near Nelson Airport has been glistening for all the wrong reasons this week. Harry Pearson reported a ‘‘diesel sheen’’ on the water at the start of the Great Taste Cycle Trail to Nelson’s pollution hotline on Wednesday night and Thursday, and said he was concerned by a lack of action. Martin Brown, Nelson City Council acting group manager environment management, said a council officer visited the site on Wednesday, following Pearson’s call, to carry out an investigation. Brown said the quantities of diesel were likely to be very small, but the officer was unable to trace the source. There was a history of intermittent diesel sheen in the waterway, he said, as its catchment included much of south Nelson’s industrial area. Investigations have been carried out in the past but have been unable to find a source.