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Oil slick. Photo: 123RF
On October 5th 2011, the container ship MV Rena struck Otaiti, the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty and began spilling 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and container debris on the beach.
Local documentary filmmakers Anton Steel and Rosalie Liddle-Crawford have created a record of the community response in the face of New Zealand's largest pollution disaster. 'Taking Back Our Beach' opens this week at the United Bayfair cinema in Mount Maunganui, 12 years to the day since the disaster.
One of the locals who will be attending, Leith Pettigew, joins Jesse.