Hawkesbury City Council was ordered to pay $175,000 to National Parks and Wildlife Service and $94,530 to the EPA after being convicted of water pollution and licensing offences in the Land and Environment Court on April 6.
Council was prosecuted by the Environment Protection Authority and pleaded guilty to one offence of water pollution and two offences of contravening its Environment Protection licence by failing to maintain plant and equipment in a proper and efficient condition, and failing to carry out sewage treatment in a competent manner.
The offences resulted from incidents in the winter of 2015 at South Windsor Sewage Treatment Plant, between Rifle Range Road and Fairey Road.
The first incident involved the overflow of approximately 465,000 litres of partially treated sewage sludge into Windsor Downs Nature Reserve and an ephemeral creek in the reserve over nearly 38 hours in July 2015. The outflow caused temporary but significant harm for 400m of the ephemeral creek.
It was determined the overflow resulted from Council’s failure to ensure that modification of pipeworks on the site was carried out appropriately, and failure to cap a pipe, resulting in the overflow to the stormwater system.
The second incident involved the overflow of approximately 100,000 litres of partially treated sewage sludge onto a neighbouring private property via a culvert under Fairey Road in August 2015. This overflow was determined to have resulted from Council’s failure to ensure that bolts securing a pump to its housing were kept secure.
Both incidents involved a potential risk to the health of anyone exposed to the sludge.
The court ordered Council to pay an amount of $175,000 to National Parks and Wildlife Service to build a gross pollutant trap on the northern boundary of the Reserve to intercept and treat stormwater runoff from surrounding urban areas, pay the EPA’s legal and investigation costs totalling nearly $94,530, and advertise these facts in the Gazette and the Western Weekender.
Council’s Jeff Organ said there had been no other overflows from the South Windsor STP since the 2015 incidents.
“Since then Council has carried out significant physical works at the STP to reduce the potential for overflows to leave the site,” he said.
“Council is conscious of its own important role in environmental regulation and protection. In addition to the clean-up of the spills Council has also taken a number of actions including a full audit to improve our sewer operations and to protect the environment.
He said the recommendations of the audit would be followed to ensure Council complied with its licence and that Council had also ramped up its environmental management processes at both South Windsor and their McGraths Hill STPs.
He said this included meeting State Government best practice for municipal waste water treatment and international accreditation.
“These were isolated incidents and Council is proud of its sewer treatment facilities which incorporate high quality tertiary treatment and recycled water systems at the South Windsor plant, and the wetlands and irrigation infrastructure at McGraths Hill, which provides significant environmental benefits,” he said.
