❓ A member of parliament questions the Minister for Water regarding a sewage spill at Lake Joondalup, specifically addressing containment, cooperation with environmental authorities, and access to information. The Minister defends the Water Corporation's actions and denies direct pumping into the lake.
AnsweredQoN 555Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER CORPORATION — WASTEWATER DISCHARGE
555. Mr D.J. KELLY to the Minister for Water:
I refer the minister to the sewage spill at Lake Joondalup in
November 2012 and to the statement that the minister made to the house on 23
May 2012 in which he said that the incident had been handled in accordance with
all relevant protocols and that the waste was pumped into a contained area and
then cleaned up.
(1) Is it not true that the waste was not contained and in
fact flowed into Lake Joondalup?
(2) Is it not
true that senior Department of Environment and Conservation officers who
investigated the incident were highly critical of the Water Corporation for not
cooperating with their investigation?
(3) Is it not
true that the Water Corporation has denied me access to witness statements for
fear of a prosecution by DEC?
555. Mr D.J. KELLY to the Minister for Water:
I refer the minister to the sewage spill at Lake Joondalup in
November 2012 and to the statement that the minister made to the house on 23
May 2012 in which he said that the incident had been handled in accordance with
all relevant protocols and that the waste was pumped into a contained area and
then cleaned up.
(1) Is it not true that the waste was not contained and in
fact flowed into Lake Joondalup?
(2) Is it not
true that senior Department of Environment and Conservation officers who
investigated the incident were highly critical of the Water Corporation for not
cooperating with their investigation?
(3) Is it not
true that the Water Corporation has denied me access to witness statements for
fear of a prosecution by DEC?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
I thank the member for the question. For the benefit of the house, we had a
debate in this chamber about the Ariti Avenue spill that occurred in about
November last year. The point was made during that debate that due to a fire in
that particular region, there was an electrical failure, and that caused a
problem with one of the wastewater pumps. This all happened in the middle of
the night, and of course the response from the Water Corporation was to get in
there and sort out the breakdown so that before peak time the next morning,
things would be put back in place. The pace of the wastewater that was flowing as
a result of that spill was such that it was getting ahead of the trucks that
the Water Corporation had put in place to take away that water. The Water
Corporation therefore made the decision—as I understand it, the
decision that it made was within its authority—to take some of that
water and pump it into a depression that had been identified adjacent to the
wastewater pump so that the workers could contain that water as much as they
could and deal with it later, and then deal with the actual pump itself. The
workers worked throughout the night, and I compliment them for being able to
get the pump back into action prior to peak hour the next morning.
The point the member raises is that a
number of freedom of information claims were put in to the Water Corporation,
with about an inch thick of documentation, and a whole heap of commentary
around the management of that particular incident. The advice I have received—this
is consistent with my request back to the Water Corporation following some of
the claims that have been made around those FOI applications—is that
the water was pumped into a depression. I have made that statement in
Parliament very directly. The water was never, ever directly pumped into Lake
Joondalup. I have never denied the fact that there may have been some seepage
from that spill into Lake Joondalup, about 130 metres away. But I also make
this point very strongly: in all the environmental assessments that happened
post the incident and in all the clean-up activities, there was deemed to be no
detrimental impact on either the environment or public health as a result of
the incident that occurred.
I am aware of the claims about the
relationship issue between DEC and the Water Corporation. I am not aware that
that has had any impact on any long-term relationship, other than the fact that
the Water Corporation has responsibility for those assets. The Water
Corporation also has authority in that relationship to manage these sorts of
incidents, which need to be managed for the broader public good.
Member, my position is consistent
with what I have said previously. I did ask the Water Corporation to go back
and talk to the people who were involved with the issue to clarify the
statement that was made in one of those FOI claims that the water was pumped
directly into Lake Joondalup. They have come back to me and said that the
advice from the team that was working on that incident that night was
consistent with the advice that I have given to the member previously and
consistent with what I have said in Parliament.
I thank the member for the question. For the benefit of the house, we had a
debate in this chamber about the Ariti Avenue spill that occurred in about
November last year. The point was made during that debate that due to a fire in
that particular region, there was an electrical failure, and that caused a
problem with one of the wastewater pumps. This all happened in the middle of
the night, and of course the response from the Water Corporation was to get in
there and sort out the breakdown so that before peak time the next morning,
things would be put back in place. The pace of the wastewater that was flowing as
a result of that spill was such that it was getting ahead of the trucks that
the Water Corporation had put in place to take away that water. The Water
Corporation therefore made the decision—as I understand it, the
decision that it made was within its authority—to take some of that
water and pump it into a depression that had been identified adjacent to the
wastewater pump so that the workers could contain that water as much as they
could and deal with it later, and then deal with the actual pump itself. The
workers worked throughout the night, and I compliment them for being able to
get the pump back into action prior to peak hour the next morning.
The point the member raises is that a
number of freedom of information claims were put in to the Water Corporation,
with about an inch thick of documentation, and a whole heap of commentary
around the management of that particular incident. The advice I have received—this
is consistent with my request back to the Water Corporation following some of
the claims that have been made around those FOI applications—is that
the water was pumped into a depression. I have made that statement in
Parliament very directly. The water was never, ever directly pumped into Lake
Joondalup. I have never denied the fact that there may have been some seepage
from that spill into Lake Joondalup, about 130 metres away. But I also make
this point very strongly: in all the environmental assessments that happened
post the incident and in all the clean-up activities, there was deemed to be no
detrimental impact on either the environment or public health as a result of
the incident that occurred.
I am aware of the claims about the
relationship issue between DEC and the Water Corporation. I am not aware that
that has had any impact on any long-term relationship, other than the fact that
the Water Corporation has responsibility for those assets. The Water
Corporation also has authority in that relationship to manage these sorts of
incidents, which need to be managed for the broader public good.
Member, my position is consistent
with what I have said previously. I did ask the Water Corporation to go back
and talk to the people who were involved with the issue to clarify the
statement that was made in one of those FOI claims that the water was pumped
directly into Lake Joondalup. They have come back to me and said that the
advice from the team that was working on that incident that night was
consistent with the advice that I have given to the member previously and
consistent with what I have said in Parliament.
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