SEQ floods 2022: Brisbane pontoons cause polystyrene spills at Noosa
Machinery is being used to remove large pontoons from Brisbane that washed up on Noosa region beaches and caused a widespread polystyrene spill.
Community News
Don't miss out on the headlines from Community News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Large machinery will be used over several days to remove pontoons that washed from the Brisbane River onto Noosa beaches in what some have described as an “environmental emergency”.
The broken pontoons which washed up during recent flooding have caused polystyrene spills at some of Noosa’s popular beaches including Peregian and Sunrise beaches.
It remains unclear how much the clean-up will cost Noosa Council with an excavator and D6 dozer arriving at beaches on Monday to boost efforts.
The machinery is expected to move some of the larger pontoons – with one weighing about 15 tonnes – in a salvage mission over several days.
Three pontoons remain along the eastern beaches – one at Sunrise Beach and two at Peregian Beach – plus a large piece of debris.
Sunshine Coast woman and marine litter expert Alison Foley said the matter should be treated as an emergency.
Ms Foley said it was particularly concerning because of how light polystyrene is, allowing it to travel along the stretches of the region’s coastline.
She described it as a “disaster” and said it posed threats to residents, vulnerable and threatened species animals and the region’s tourism industry.
“It’s a very light substance, highly toxic and designed to last forever,” Ms Foley said.
“This will be impacting our environment for many years to come.
“Watching these pontoons be pummelled in the surf and knowing the toxicity of the substance, this is a disaster.”
Noosa Council acting environmental services manager Shaun Walsh said council staff were tarping pontoons where possible to reduce polystyrene breaking off and polluting the beaches.
“We can’t use industrial cling-wrap to prevent further polystyrene from breaking off as it’s not proven to work well in wet environments and it will likely unravel and create additional environmental issues,” Mr Walsh said.
“Our crews will continue to monitor the sites over the weekend and remove any new debris.”
Rubbish bags are available at some beach access points for residents who want to help clean up and bags can be dropped back for collection.
A beach vacuum, organised by Ocean Crusaders, helped remove polystyrene particles last week, together with the council’s beach-grooming tractors.
Ms Foley said some residents come up with interesting ways to pick up polystyrene, including using a poly tube rubbed with a microfibre cloth.
She hoped the event would lead to a rethink of how polystyrene was used.
“There’s lots of international interest in this because these pontoons are around the world, in every marina,” she said.
“Polystyrene is one of the singled out items in plastic bans because it is so dangerous and hard to capture and recycle.
“Questions will be raised as to the fit for purpose application of this highly toxic substance, while these pontoons are vulnerable to extreme weather events.”
She said groups throughout the Sunshine Coast and Noosa area were getting involved in the clean up across the region including Ocean Crusaders, The Beach Matters and Coolum Northshore Coastcare.
“It’s really encouraging to see the community come out in force to help mitigate the disaster,” she said.
“There’s children with buckets and families getting out there.”
She encouraged people to take rubbish bags to the beach to help clean up over the coming days, weeks and months.
The beach pollution comes as the Noosa Council works to identify areas most in need for flood repairs.
Disaster recovery chair councillor Joe Jurisevic said repairs would take time.
“We have about 115 public assets that need to be addressed, including 83 roads, reserves and footpaths, 24 community assets such as picnic shelters, barbecues and community halls as well as four stormwater assets and four bus stops,” he said.
Mr Jurisevic said three significant landslips also required urgent attention.
“This is going to be a mammoth task and our crews are putting in a massive effort,” he said.
“All we ask is that the community be patient and give our staff and contractors time to assess the damage and respond.”
Traffic control will be in place at times around Noosa’s eastern beaches from Monday as the pontoons are removed and transported.
Transport, health services: Caloundra, Kawana candidates’ top priorities
Transport and health services are among the key priorities for Caloundra and Kawana candidates as they talk to voters ahead of the Queensland state election.
Revealed: Resorts, restaurants in the running for 2024 business awards
More than 100 Sunshine Coast businesses, including restaurants and resorts, have been announced as finalists for a series of prestigious business awards.