‘Negligible chance’: Fracking not responsible for Newcastle Creek, NT, fish kill

Tested water samples have found that fracking was not responsible for a fish kill event at Newcastle Creek, after environmentalists were quick to point the finger at the controversial mining practice.

Hundreds of fish were found in Newcastle Creek fish kill event. Picture: Supplied

Water samples taken at Newcastle Creek in Marlinja following a fish kill event have shown no signs of pollution or poor water quality being behind the deaths.

The results comes after environmentalists were quick to point the finger at fracking being the cause of the January event, with sites located upstream from where the dead fish were found.

A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security said that the fish kill was a concern but not uncommon this time of year and samples had shown no evidence of fracking being to blame.

Newcastle Creek fish kill event. Picture: Supplied

Newcastle Creek fish kill event. Picture: Supplied

“Samples have come back clean with no indication of pollution or water quality concerns,” they said.

“While it can be confronting, it is common for fish kills to occur early in the wet season due to a large amount of organic material being washed into creeks and waterholes in the ‘first flush’ of the season, which can cause a natural lack of oxygen in the water.

“While we recognise community concerns regarding the possible implication of waste materials, there is a negligible chance this was a contributor to this event.”

The response time of the Northern Territory Government to environmental disasters was also called into question by the environmentalists following the event.

The Northern Territory EPA were notified of hundreds of dead fish at the creek on Monday 15 January but didn’t attend the scene until Friday 19 January.

The spokesperson said there is no lack of urgency at the department when it comes to these types of matters.

“As Territorians we are passionate about our natural environment, and want to protect it,” they said.

Katherine Veterinarian and Protect Big Rivers spokesman Dr Samantha Phelan was one industry voice to quickly call out the NT EPA and fracking sites.

Protesters at an anti-fracking demonstration in Darwin ahead of a Supreme Court challenge against former Environment Minister Lauren Moss’ approval of Tamborans exploration fracking project in the NT late last year. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“This unacceptable delay shows the NT Government hasn’t got a hope in hell of responding if and when fracking causes an environmental catastrophe in a remote part of the Territory,” she said.

“There’s clearly insufficient monitoring, particularly prior to and during big floods that regularly occur during the wet.

“This is when the risk of water contamination from fracking is high, and it is also when many government workers are interstate on holidays.”

Ray Dimakarri Dixon who has lived in the area his whole life said the fish kill event was something that deeply impacted the community.

“I’ve never come across that kind of thing happening on Country, in this creek,” he said.

“Other family members found it and when I went down there I was shocked. It’s sad. It’s an emotional thing, a spiritual thing, we live on Country because we want to protect Country.

“For thousands of years my ancestors lived here. That creek was our main source of water food, we ate kangaroo and turkey too, but that creek is where we got our fish and freshwater mussels from.”