REPRESENTATIVES of a North Arm Cove water quality and sampling program were expected to present findings and make a case for ongoing support during a Great Lakes Council strategic committee meeting on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In conjunction with the NSW Food Authority
and the University of Newcastle, the council led the program, which aims
to identify sources of elevated faecal contamination entering the North Arm Cove-Bundabah oyster harvest areas.
“Recent environmental sampling of waters and oyster meat in the Bundabah shellfish harvest area has revealed irregularly high levels of faecal contamination in water samples,” the council’s environmental health co-ordinator, Malcolm Hunter, said.
“No clear source of the contamination has been identified after further monitoring of OSMS [on-site sewage management systems] in the catchment and targeted water sampling techniques.
“One of the likely sources of the contamination is failing OSMS around the foreshore of North Arm Cove and Bundabah, for which council is the appropriate regulatory authority.”
The council has contributed $1000 to the project and the NSW Food Authority $10,000 for two rounds of water sampling, with a further $9000 allocated for future tests.
Mr Hunter said the council’s OSMS reserve budget was about $165,000.
“It is relevant that the OSMS reserve budget be used to contribute towards this program,” he said. In 2006, the North Arm Cove-Bundabah harvest area was classified as restricted.
A 2010 review of the harvest area identified irregular levels of faecal contamination in dry and wet weather periods.
The contamination has become a major concern to oyster farmers, as it not only places extra financial burden on them to undertake further testing, but also may result in a further re-classification of the harvest area.
A University of Newcastle representative was to outline the program’s objectives at the June 10 meeting and gain support for its continuation.
