Sydney Water fined $30k after raw sewage discharged into Lane Cove River

Sydney Water has been fined $30,000 after thousands of litres of raw sewage flooded into the Lane Cove River.

The discharge was detected at the Lane Cove River in December 2018.

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Sydney Water has been fined $30,000 after thousands of litres of raw sewage flooded into the Lane Cove River.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) issued the infringement in response to 12,000 litres of untreated sewage discharged into Woodford Bay, between Longueville and Greenwich, on December 23 and 24.

The EPA said the spill lasted for approximately 25 hours and allegedly resulted from the “inappropriate maintenance of plant and equipment” at the Northwood Sewage Pumping Station.

“A backup control system for the pumps failed on December 14, which Sydney Water did not repair,” an EPA spokesman said.

“When the main system subsequently failed on December 22 as a result of a power failure there was no emergency back up in place.

“Sydney Water then failed to respond to three alarms between December 20 and 24.

“The EPA alleges this incident happened because of a failure by Sydney Water to prioritise the repair of backup pump systems.”

In a statement, Sydney Water said the power failure affected pumping units at the Northwood site.

“An earlier failure to an emergency controller meant there was no backup controls available,” a company spokesman said.

“Sydney Water recognises that there are opportunities to improve our environmental performance, particularly in our management of wastewater overflows.

“New clean-up operations have been developed and our crews are being trained in this updated approach.”

The spill comes after a string of similar incidents across the Sydney region.

In April, Sydney Water was fined $45,000 by the EPA for the alleged failure to adequately clean-up sewage overflows, impacting waterways in Pymble, Faulconbridge and Forestville.

Friends of Lane Cove Park president Tony Butteriss said previous incidents had resulted in ongoing impacts to sensitive bushland environments.

The sewage spilt into the Lane Cove River.

“We’ve have had a number of similar incidents in the past and there does seem to be an ongoing problem with the ageing infrastructure of the water system and pipes,” he said.

“(In the past) it’s been mainly raw sewage and it’s not particularly pleasant if you haven’t got people taking part in bush regeneration programs.

“You’d be amazed how many weed seeds and nutrients come thought the sewage system. Most native species can’t tolerate high nutrients and that’s where you get the imbalance

“Very often we need to keep working on a polluted area and revisiting it for years.”

Along with the environment, EPA regional director Giselle Howard said discharges of raw sewage can also impact river users and local residents.

“This part of the river is close to schools and homes and is also a popular recreational area,” she said.

“The EPA considers the overflow posed an increased risk to recreational water users in the area due to potential exposure to pathogens from the raw sewage.”

Sydney Water said it “would work closely with the EPA to implement further improvement opportunities that are recommended in the independent audit.”