Council to pay almost half a million dollars over Narara Creek sewage leak

Central Coast Council has been ordered to pay a total of $418,562 by the Land and Environment Court for failing to maintain a sewage pipeline which caused a significant water pollution event in Narara Creek in April 2023.

The incident occurred when the West Gosford major sewage rising main, or pipeline, failed and about 1.83 million litres of untreated sewage – an amount equivalent to 7,000 Olympic-size swimming pools – was released into the creek, which is a tributary of the Brisbane Water estuary.

The Court found that Council did not properly maintain the rising main at its South Sewage Treatment System in Kincumber and failed to undertake preventative maintenance work following a similar failure of the rising main in 2020.

EPA Executive Director Operations David Gathercole said the 2023 incident resulted in significant pollution of Narara Creek, Fagan’s Bay and Brisbane Water.

“Apart from the obvious odour and visual pollution impacts that would have been observed by the community, the release of untreated sewage into the environment resulted in increased ammonia levels as far as Brisbane Water and reduced dissolved oxygen levels in surface water,” he said.

“These changes in water quality can severely impact aquatic plants and animals.

“Following (an) earlier incident in 2020, the Council failed to implement a suitable preventative maintenance plan that may have prevented this latest event.

“It is crucial that the Central Coast Council ensures it has effective maintenance and repair schedules in place to protect the community and the environment.”

In addition to a fine of $105,600 the Court agreed to a Council proposal to complete a restoration project of the Narara Creek Wetlands, valued at $151,900.

Council has also been ordered to pay the EPA’s costs of investigating and prosecuting the matter bringing the total penalty to $418,562.

The fine contained a discount for an early guilty plea in November and took account of Council’s proposition to do wetland restoration works.

The Court did not accept a Council argument that it was in a unique position because of the 2020 financial crisis and being under administration.

Council had argued that this circumstance made it “inexpedient” to record a conviction against the Council which in effect did not exist at the time.

Secondly, it had done everything it reasonably could to maintain the rising main and minimise risk to the environment given the financial circumstances it faced, Council’s argument said.

“Even if the Court forms the opinion that there was something more the Council could and therefore should have done, it is to be respectfully observed that it can only be a criticism of the Administrator appointed by the Minister,” Council said.

“The Administrator was in charge and responsible for the Council for two-and-a-half years prior to the 2023 incident.”

But the Court refused to accept the premise that circumstances did not warrant a penalty for general deterrence purposes.

“As the EPA submitted, all councils face the challenge of budget management and the Council’s financial issues are self-inflicted,” the judgement said.

“Further … I must consider the Council as a whole not its constituent parts such as elected councillors and staff.”

In 2022/2023, Council was in the process of investigations to determine and assess the need for pipeline replacement in the vicinity of the incident.

Since then, Council has brought forward capital works plans to replace about two kilometres of the pipeline.

This will now start in 2025 and is expected to be completed by 2026.

The pipeline takes raw sewage through a connecting series of pump stations and pipelines that service Somersby, Kariong, Koolewong, Tascott, Point Clare, West Gosford and parts of Gosford.

It is then pumped across to Wyoming and North Gosford and through the Springfield sewer tunnel to Erina, eventually ending at Kincumber Sewage Treatment Plant.