The NSW Environmental Protection Authority received a tip-off last week that contaminated sand and sediment had been loaded onto trucks and transported off site from the marina’s slipway.

Once at the scene the EPA officer found a contractor hull-blasting a large boat in the slipway where contaminants were allowed to flow into the estuary.

“The high pressure cleaning was occurring in a manner such that waste material was discharged directly into the marina at Port Stephens, bypassing the catch drain,” the EPA’s Hunter region manager Adam Gilligan said.

“As a result slime, some biomaterial and ‘antifouling’ paint flowed into the marina.”

Antifoul paint can be particularly toxic to marine life when proper practices aren’t followed.

“Even greater care is needed in this area as the waters are sensitive, being part of the Port Stephens - Great Lakes Marine Park and being close to oyster leases,” Mr Gilligan said.

Clippers Anchorage, trading as Soldiers Point Marina, also received a clean-up notice to test the materials transported off site, and was told to dispose of them appropriately.       

“On May 26 and 27, 2016, the EPA observed a large stockpile of wet sand and sediments on the slipway of the Marina,” Mr Gilligan said.

“No environmental controls were observed to manage the dredging activities or storage of materials that had been removed from the water.”

The breaches aren’t the first for Soldiers Point Marina. 

The EPA noted there have previously been a number of community complaints regarding the use of the slipway at the Soldiers Point Marina.

The EPA had issued the company with an official caution in 2014 for a similar incident. 

For more information about the EPA’s regulatory tools, see the EPA Compliance Policy http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/legislation/prosguid.htm.