Filthy creek fears

Margo Zlotkowski

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

CAIRNS Regional Council has been accused of ignoring a car body in a city creek that could be leaking pollutants where dead fish have been found.

Photos of more than a dozen small dead fish washed up on the banks of the Portsmith tributary of Chinaman’s Creek at the end of Spence St were sent to The Cairns Post by a concerned worker from the nearby industrial estate.

"I am only guessing there is a link between dead fish and a car sitting in the creek. What do you think?" the worker, who asked to be known only as Paul, said.

He questioned why the council - which last month cleaned up a nearby section of the creek - did not remove the car body and steel scrap while it had two excavators and three tip trucks on site.

"We are always hearing about how we should be careful not to pollute our waterways and this happens," Paul said.

"I cannot say how long this Daihatsu Charade has been submerged - weeks or months - but it should not happen at all.

"Some fluids in a car don't agree with our waterways: engine oil, brake fluid, coolant, gearbox oil, battery acid, petrol.

"That's a lovely combination to have in our little creek and leaving it there for any length of time is senseless, or just slack."

A council spokesman said the car body had been noticed by the maintenance crews working in the area last month and it would be removed as soon as possible.

The crews had been carrying out flood mitigation and desilting work under licence from the Department of Natural Resources, as well as removing vegetation from the creek bank.

"Once again, drains and water courses should never be used as dumping grounds for rubbish,’’ the spokesman said.

"This is a constant battle costing many thousands of ratepayer dollars each year to clean up.’’

An Environmental Protection Agency spokesman said no fish kills in the creek had been reported but he urged anyone who noticed incidents to report them immediately on 1300 130 372 so they could be investigated.

Water testing at the site revealed no sign of low dissolved oxygen levels, he said.

<strong>Dumped: </strong>The Daihatsu sitting in a creek.

Dumped: The Daihatsu sitting in a creek.

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