Locals around Lake Macquarie were devastated on Friday (August 5) to discover large numbers of fish washed up dead on the shoreline in mysterious circumstances.
“We’re not talking about a dozen fish, we’re talking about thousands of fish of all species – bream, flathead, sting rays, mullet, blackfish and types I’ve not seen before,” said local, Shane Peters, of Mannering Park.
“I’ve lived in the area for 50 years and have never seen anything like it,
“I rang the EPA and they came out to investigate the day after – they weren’t going to say what it was straight away, though they said they suspected low oxygen levels in the water could be responsible for the mass kill event.”
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is the state government agency responsible for monitoring and eventually policing the health of the lakes.
Central Coast Newspapers contacted the EPA for comment although a spokesperson said they were still investigating the situation, saying they will release a statement in due course.
Another local Jennifer Peterson witnessed the scene on Friday afternoon and decided to take photos of the dead fish to document the extent of the mass kill event.
“As you can see from the photos this is a big deal, Peterson said.
“The fish are starting to smell and make our suburb stink” she said.
Central Coast Council has been asked by locals to assist with the clean up, though have yet to confirm that they will assist.
Locals speculated on social media into the cause, writing it may be related to anything from a chemical spill, seismic testing, a natural algae bloom following the rain or related to Delta Electricity’s Vales Point power station.
Vales Point power station is one of two coal fired power stations on the shores of Lake Macquarie and the only industrial organisation that fronts the lake.
The station is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the suburb of Mannering Park, where the bulk of the dead fish have been found.
The station uses water from the lake as cooling in the production of energy and has a long standing permit from the EPA to emit warm water into Lake Macquarie.
A retired engineer from the station [who requested not be named] said that the plant operated an aeration device that returns oxygen to the warm water that is then released back into the lake.
Central Coast Newspapers contacted the power station operated by Delta for comment on Monday.
“There are no abnormal operations at the Power Station which would suggest that Vales Point has anything to do with the issue, however, we have been in touch with the EPA to offer them any assistance they require as part of their investigations,” said Steve Gurney, Company Secretary of Delta Electricity.
“If one was to draw conclusions it looks like the recent rains, flooding and the significant run-off into Lake Macquarie might be a more likely cause, but we won’t jump to conclusions, we’ll await the EPA’s investigation”.
Earlier this year Vales Point came under the spotlight for issues surrounding air pollution.
In February, the EPA said it had received a report from Delta that showed exceedances of PM2.5 particles at its monitoring station at nearby Wyee on seven days in January.
Delta is duty-bound to report such incidents to the EPA and said it had arranged for “calibration and assessment of the monitor”, saying “elevated humidity levels” were the most likely reason for the readings.
Long term local Shane Peters said, “We just need answers so these fish deaths don’t happen again”.
David Abrahams
I’d really like to know WHY these fish have died. My family swim in it and we eat fish from the lake.