Central Coast Council has been ordered to pay a total of $418,562 by the Land and Environment Court for failing to maintain a sewage pipeline which caused a significant water pollution event in Narara Creek near Gosford in April 2023.
The incident occurred when the West Gosford Major Sewage rising main, or pipeline, failed and around 1.83 million litres of untreated sewage – an amount equivalent to 7000 Olympic swimming pools - was released into the creek which is a tributary of the Brisbane Water estuary.
The Court found that the Council did not properly maintain the rising main at its South Sewage Treatment System in Kincumber and failed to undertake preventative maintenance work following a similar failure of the rising main in 2020.
EPA Executive Director Operations David Gathercole said the 2023 incident resulted in significant pollution of Narara Creek, Fagan’s Bay and Brisbane Water.
“Apart from the obvious odour and visual pollution impacts that would have been observed by the community, the release of untreated sewage into the environment resulted in increased ammonia levels as far as Brisbane Water and reduced dissolved oxygen levels in surface water,” Mr Gathercole said.
“These changes in water quality can severely impact aquatic plants and animals.
“Following the earlier incident in 2020, the Council failed to implement a suitable preventative maintenance plan that may have prevented this latest event. It is crucial that the Central Coast Council ensures it has effective maintenance and repair schedules in place to protect the community and the environment.”
In addition to a fine of $105,600 the court agreed to a Council proposal to complete a restoration project of the Narara Creek Wetlands, valued at $151,900. The Council has also been ordered to pay the EPA’s costs of investigating and prosecuting the matter bringing the total penalty to $418,562.