Compost fish kill probe
Environmental watchdog to investigate whether wastewater turned deadly
TASMANIA’S environmental watchdog is investigating if wastewater from a composting facility upstream is responsible for the death of 120,000 fish at a hatchery at the Salmon Ponds, in the Derwent Valley.
The Environmental Protection Authority probe will examine if an alleged discharge of wastewater into the Plenty River is behind the death of 105,000 brown trout fry, 12,000 rainbow trout, 43
brook trout and 25 display fish atPlenty.
The EPA said it had issued an environment protection notice to the company requiring immediate clean-up of waste deposited on a nearby property. The Mercury attempted to contact the company for a response.
The E PA was notified of the deaths by the Inland Fisheries Service, which runs the hatchery used to stock Tasmania’s creeks, rivers and dams with fish for recreational anglers.
Fry are raised to support the fishery service’s trout restocking program and there are still enough to meet requirements for the coming season, a spokesmansaid.
The Salmon Ponds attraction remains open and surviving fish in the display ponds haverecovered.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party vice-chairman Ken Orr visited the site and said the foul-smelling discharge that washed down the Plenty River was a “disgusting looking toxic blast ”.
“The EPA must take into account its (Salmon Ponds) worldwide historic and tourism value to the Derwent Valley when licensing operations on the same watershed,” Mr Orrsaid.
“We need a full testing reg imen over the length of the river to establish the impact on our macro invertebrates, native fish, eels and platypus.
“I have been calling on the Derwent Catchment Authority for over a year to test above and below this facility, as nutrient levels appeared to be rising, but funding seemed to be a barrier to this happening .”
The Greens said the incident underscored existing concerns about the location of biosolid and primary industry waste disposal facilities in Tasmania.
“Toxic chemicals, plastics and pathogens can all be present in biosolids. Tasmania needs a solution to managing our human and industrial waste, with strict environmental regulations to make sure these hazardous materials don’t end up leaching into our waterways or being accidentally discharged,” Senator PeterWhish-Wilsonsaid.