Light shed on mystery
A FAULTY pipe has been identified as the cause of a gas leak discovered at the historic Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Reserve over the weekend.
The discovery has ended a months-long mystery surrounding increasing numbers of dead trees and shrubbery appearing at the tourist site, with the gas leak confirmed as the cause.
A CFA spokesperson confirmed trucks had attended the reserve on Saturday after the smell of gas was detected along the popular walking track.
“A pipe was leaking and it appeared that there was gas coming up to the surface of the ground,” the spokesperson said. “A request to attend the incident was sent to the gas company and both CFA and the gas company soon arrived on scene. The gas company then clamped and repaired the pipe.”
Local resident and member of the Friends of the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Reserve Lester Hunt said quite a few people had noticed a “toxic gas smell” in the area for a number of weeks.
“I had noticed an extensive dieback of vegetation, many species including native, on the access road to the Point Lonsdale lighthouse over the past couple of months,” Mr Hunt said.
“Many of us started to notice the smell around the area over the last few weeks.
“My wife put in a report to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week, and I reported it to council Wednesday.”
Mr Hunt said he was concerned how long it took to discover the leak considering how many people frequent the site.
“There have been multiple community events up there over the past few months, not to mention the lighthouse tours, it’s quite a destination for everyone,” he said.
“It is definitely concerning that the gas has leaked for some time and no one’s picked it up though.
“I’m not entirely convinced it was a gas leak that has caused the death of the trees though, I’d like for them to monitor it closely.”
Queenscliff council’s general manager of organisational performance and community services Phillip Carruthers said council had followed up reports of dead vegetation when they were raised last Wednesday.
“I went down myself to have a look with the foreshore manager on Wednesday after being contacted by concerned ratepayers,” Mr Carruthers said.
“We had an arborist look at the site Friday, but he had no idea what was causing the vegetation to die.
“We received a call on Saturday from emergency services about the discovery of a leak, which has now been sealed.”
He confirmed that gas had been identified as the cause of death of surrounding vegetation. Mr Carruthers said both the CFA and the repairman working on Saturday commented that the pipe appeared to have been leaking for “quite some time”.