MISSION ACCOMPLISHED – Contaminated Waterways On-Track For Recovery

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! City Wide Sewage Contaminated Waterways, Residential Canals and Wetlands Finally On-Track For Recovery

The catastrophic collapse of the internationally protected Coombabah wetlands, lake and creek Eco system and potentially fatal levels of E-coli contamination discovered in residential canals and waterways across the city have been the focus of a two year awareness campaign waged by residents against Gold Coast City Council.

The campaign, which at times reached a social media audience directly and indirectly of c.260,000 across the country and internationally has finally delivered.

Background
Coombabah Creek, Lake and Wetlands are protected by the Ramsar international convention for significant wetlands. It is also a protected fish habitat under the Queensland Fisheries Act and protected marine conservation and habitat zone under the Moreton Bay Marine Park Zoning Plan. The area is also one of the largest and most important fish sanctuaries in Queensland, ensuring supply of flathead, whiting and bream for the Morton Bay commercial and recreational fisheries.

Analysis of 10 years of GC Water and Waste recreational water quality test data showed E-coli and Enterococci readings up to 680 times (6,800%) above safe levels over a period of at approximately 8 years. Levels of heavy metals, prescription and illicit drugs normally present in these conditions appear to have never been tested.

Consequences
The system collapse has had far reaching effects including the destruction of the health and numbers of fish, crabs and other marine life in the wetlands and estuaries being a major breeding ground for the Moreton Bay fishery. It also impacted the international migratory and local water birds populations and unique vegetation.

Relentless questioning and investigations by residents revealed that Council failed in its responsibility to provide effective day to day management of a unique and commercially valuable natural asset as well as failing to adequately maintain our critical life support systems of sewage and stormwater networks across the city.

It was also confirmed by Council that due to cost saving measures water quality testing had ceased in November 2017 with the exception of testing local swimming enclosures for the presence of E-coli. All responsibility for water quality testing had been passed to Healthy Land and Water attached to State Government. Enquiries revealed that HLW conducted only limited testing and only within major waterways but did not include E.coli or Enterococci.

The Broadwater, other waterways across the city and residential canals from Helensvale to Paradise Point and The Sovereign Islands had effectively been turned into an open sewer exposing residents, visitors and international tourists to potentially fatal E-coli related illnesses across the city as they unwittingly entered these waters. Residents regularly reported outbreaks affecting entire families.

Mosquito numbers increased dramatically across a wide area due to the exposed mud as did the number of cases of Ross River Virus and other mosquito borne diseases which were being reported by residents. These risks were further compounded when both Gold Coast City Council and Queensland Health refused to issue public warnings.

It was also revealed that Council’s relaxation of requirements to conduct inspections of new residential and commercial storm water connections encouraged an increase in the illegal and dangerous practice of connecting storm water into the sewage network. This resulted in overloading the system requiring council to dump raw sewage into storm water drains, parks, playgrounds and residential yards during periods of heavy rain. As a result, adverse weather in February this year (2020) saw a catastrophic failure of 91 sewage pumps across the city contaminating more than 35 homes in the Paradise Point/Runaway Bay area, which were then condemned.

Other issues discovered by residents include:
• High volume overflows of raw sewage into the creeks and waterways due to inadequate treatment plant capacity;
• The sale of toxic ‘C’ Class ‘treated’ (sewage) water for use by golf courses, residences, GC Parks and Gardens and since the closure of the Pimpama ‘A’ Class plant in late 2016 (to cut costs), by market gardeners unaware of its high levels of toxicity. Research revealed that recycled (treated sewage) water contains high levels of more than 86 pharmaceutical drugs, illicit drugs and heavy metals which cannot be removed through the normal sewage treatment process.
• Un-monitored approvals of privately owned treated (sewage) water mains discovered when a local resident located a broken ‘C’ Class main releasing huge volumes of toxic (treated) water into the protected Coombabah creek for at least two years.
• Years of neglect resulting in the presence of huge quantities of plastics build up which were breaking down into micro plastics contamination creating a dangerous health risk with the potential for ingestion by humans, fish, crabs, water birds and sea eagles.

The Breakthrough
In the absence of any effective response from Council, repeated and persistent appeals were made to the Qld Minister for Environment (DES) and Science, which resulted in an introduction to DES’ highly respected head of Wetlands Management.

With the increasing weight of evidence being collected and reported by hundreds of residents across the city, plus intervention and direction by DES, Council was eventually, while not admitting it, forced to concede, resulting in the following positive outcomes and actions.
• Approval of $150 million long overdue upgrade of the Coombabah Treatment Plant. Work commenced.
• Remediation work on collapsed retaining walls of Coombabah STP and other areas of neglect has commenced.
• Approval of $9 million upgrade of sewage pumping stations and improvements to the maintenance program has commenced.
• Council has announced that no further privately owned waste water mains will be approved and has introduced improved controls on existing privately owned infrastructure.
• Council announced a review of the practice of sale and use of ‘C’ class recycled water (treated sewage) “to address current health risks”.
• Gold Coast Water and Waste has removed approx. 240 kg of plastic waste from the area. Plastic will be an ongoing and serious issue that will also form part of the new wetlands and waterways management plan.
• Approval and implementation of a city wide inspection, testing and remediation program for all domestic and commercial storm water connections to ensure separation from the sewage network. This will go a long way towards reducing future sewage network overloads.

In Addition:
• Dept. of Environment and Science has formed a major cross government project team to investigate current state of Coombabah Wetlands, Lake and Creek, recommend a remediation plan and also put in place an enforceable, long term monitoring and management program. The team includes representation from DES, DAF, GCCC and Griffith University. Testing and monitoring equipment has been in place for the past few weeks and various data is being collected and analysed including tidal flow, bathymetry and depths.
• Research will also be extended to monitoring plastic waste build-up, mapping vegetation, establishing the health and numbers of migratory birds and local water birds plus documenting the current health of fish, crabs and other marine life that depend on this area. The project is fully funded with DES senior executive support. Management and monitoring will be ongoing.
• It was also confirmed by DES that Healthy Land and Water are in the process of reviewing and revising water quality testing practices and have also formed a working relationship with Ramsar international to develop a world class outcome for the entire Moreton Bay protected area.

Based on recent discussions with DES I am confident that effective remediation and management has commenced and will continue to improve the health of this unique and irreplaceable natural and commercially significant asset. I believe that the new focus will, over time result in increasingly healthy waterways, canals, parks and playgrounds across the city, see a reduction in health risks, a general improvement to community health and increased awareness and acceptance of responsibility by all related parties within Gold Coast City Council.

NOTE: The issue of suspected dumping of dredge spoil, observed and recorded by local residents has yet to be resolved.

THANK YOU!
• To the many thousands of concerned residents across the city and other parties who have readily contributed and supported this campaign.
• To local fishermen who regularly contribute with photos and video clips showing Council health and safety breaches.
• To former Council maintenance personnel and other specialists who contribute advice and insights into the state of our infrastructure.
• To the environmental scientists at DES, who have led and continue to lead this vital recovery and management program.
• Last but not least, thank you to the Coombabah Wetlands Volunteer Kayak Patrol and other local residents who regularly monitor and record events across this valuable natural and commercial asset.

This has been an example of residents putting aside political ideologies and working together effectively to redress government incompetence, negligence and malfeasance.

The job is done and it’s now time for us to step out of the way and let them get on with it. BUT, “We The People” need to continue to monitor progress and to hold our senior bureaucrats and elected representatives accountable. Their levels of integrity remain unacceptably low but it is up to all of us, working together to drag the system back up.

Video produced and supplied by Dale – Local Resident Volunteer Wetlands Kayak Patrol #1. Thanks Dale. Great work!

[EDIT – 18 Nov, 2023. ‘Mayor’ Tom Tate is now driving the insidious Agenda 21/30 ‘Sustainability’ objectives on behalf of the treacherous United Nations/World Economic Forum “You will own nothing and you will be happy” WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab.]

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