Residents furious about black water, stench from Carrara canal

Waterfront residents in a major Gold Coast suburb have spoken out about the "black mess" stinking up their homes. 

RESIDENTS at Witt Ave, Carrara, are furious at a stench emanating from water in their canal, which they describe as “a black mess”.

Area councillor Bob La Castra agreed, saying he had been frustrated for decades about lack of action on the waterway and called for State Government to intervene.

Witt Ave resident John Johnson is one of many locals livid about the canal’s foul smell and black water: “The stench is so bad, we can’t sleep at night. We have to close all our windows.

“I’ve lived here for 25 years and it gets worse every year. Every time there’s a downpour, our canal turns brown, but now it’s black and it stinks,” he said. “The ducks have all gone, there are no fish and the other day, there were dead fish in the water.”

Carrara resident John Johnson at Witt Canal, which he thinks may contain oil-based pollution. Picture: Tim Marsden

Mr Johnson said he was concerned it was a health risk.

“We have children as young as two living in this area and their long-term health may be at risk,” he said.

“What if they develop respiratory problems? Who is going to be responsible then?”

A Gold Coast City Council spokesman said council was aware of it: “Investigations reveal it’s likely discoloured water and strong odour is a result of stormwater run-off from the upstream floodplain (Palm Meadows), associated acid sulfate soils and decomposing organic material."

It would be monitored and had been reported to the Department of Environment and Science pollution hotline.

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Cr La Castra said a letter was sent in 2009 by the then Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) to Hungtat, the Palm Meadows landowners and developers.

“DERM asked Hungtat to take remedial action, but I believe they refused,” Cr La Castra said, adding DERM sent another letter to Hungtat, saying reasonable grounds to showed the developer was responsible for the water condition in the Witt Ave canal.

“This is not a council issue. We have zero control over this,” Cr La Castra said. “It’s a State

Area councillor Bob La Castra said he had been frustrated for decades about lack of action on the waterway and called for State Government to intervene. Photo: Jerad Williams

Government issue and they need to jump on this.”

“Water often turns a brownish red and we often have fish killed,” he said.

A Department of Environment and Science (DES) spokesman said it was investigating.

“The department previously issued a clean-up notice to Hungtat Worldwide Pty Ltd to carry out specific actions aimed at reducing the impacts of the acid sulfate within land owned by the company.

“The company successfully contested the clean-up notice in 2017 with the court.”

The spokesman said council had advised DES of latest water quality results and DES would also visit the site to carry out further monitoring.

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Mr Johnson believes it is a health risk. Picture: Tim Marsden

“We will continue to engage with council,” the spokesman said.

A representative for Hickey Lawyers, which acts for Hungtat, said this issue went before the Planning and Environment Court of Queensland on October 27, 2017.

“The action was in response to a complaint by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection,” the representative said.

“The judge found conclusively that Hungtat, the owner, had no responsibility or obligation to remedy the issues at Witt Ave canal.”