Council cops fine over faulty pump

Newcastle City Council (NSW) has been issued a $15,000 penalty notice after a cracked pump head at Beresford Swimming Pool resulted in pollution of waters from leaked chlorine.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) issued the penalty notice after the council failed to attend to the issue after two occasions where they were notified of the potential leak by community members.

EPA Chief Environmental Regulator, Mark Gifford, said “the EPA was made aware of this incident on 14 September when Council made an official notification.”

“The EPA and Fire and Rescue NSW responded to the incident and spent the majority of the day implementing measures to minimise environmental harm and render the site safe. The incident required flushing of the stormwater system to render the site safe and resulted in some localised impacts, including a fish and macroinvertebrate kill in a dam that received contaminated waters at Beresford Golf Course.”

Mr Gifford said that the council has been issued the penalty notice in relation to the pollution of waters incident.

“The EPA views these matters very seriously. Council must ensure that it has measures in place to ensure rapid action is taken in the event of equipment failure which has an impact on the environment.”

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