Calls to clean up Sandringham beach sludge getting louder
IT’S the black oozy substance trapping children and keeping visitors away from Sandringham Beach, now calls for the state government to pay to remove the sludge are getting louder.
Inner South
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SOME call it “black death”, others “black sludge” — but everyone who has seen the dark oozy substance plaguing the Sandringham Harbour and Jetty Road precinct wants it gone.
The precinct’s estimated 250,000 visitors each year have put up with the stinky sludge but thanks to a few key stakeholders, that could be about to change.
The sludge had largely been an aesthetic concern but reports of children getting stuck waist-deep in the quicksand-like dark pits has prompted fresh urgency to get it cleared up.
Sandringham Yacht Club, Hampton Sailing Club and the local sea scouts are among the groups trying to banish the sludge.
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Yacht Club chief executive Richard Hewett said it was only a matter of time before a child was seriously injured.
“The sludge has been here forever but it’s getting worse,” he said. “More and more children are getting stuck and we fear it won’t be long until one breaks a leg or worse. We’re calling on the State Government to come in and clear it up.”
Mr Hewett estimated a sludge removal feasibility study would cost up to $25,000.
Earlier this year, the stakeholders, with the support of Parks Victoria, applied unsuccessfully for cash from the Port Phillip Bay Fund.
In 2017, they engaged the services of Scott Chidgey, a marine environmental scientist, to find out exactly what the sludge is.
He found it was organic residue, dispelling a rumour the ooze was caused by oil or diesel leaks.
“There is no evidence that the condition is due to the presence of the boats in the harbour or activities at the yacht club,” Mr Chidgey said.
“The (sludge) is the result of the accumulation of organic material (mostly seagrass and seaweeds) in the protected waters.
“People and dogs walking along the beach can unwittingly sink through the surface layer into the smelly ooze below.”
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