Mr. Kelly questions the Minister for Water regarding the dumping of sewage into Lake Joondalup following a pumping station failure and the subsequent lack of cleanup. The Minister acknowledges the issue and promises to investigate.

AnsweredQoN 179Legislative Assembly
Asked
22 May 2013
Portfolio
Water

QuestionView source ↗

WATER
QUALITY — LAKE JOONDALUP
179. Mr D.J. KELLY to the Minister for Water:
I refer the minister to Lake Joondalup where on the night of
15 November 2012 the Water Corporation approved the dumping of 750 000 litres
of sewage into the lake when the Ariti Avenue pumping station failed.
(1) Why was
the decision made to dump the waste into Lake Joondalup when other options were
available to deal with the situation?
(2) Why, six
months later, has the site not been properly cleaned up, demonstrated by the
fact that there are still nappies and sanitary products clearly visible on
public walkways, and a flourishing crop of tomatoes growing on the site, examples
of which I now hold up to show members? 

AnswerView source ↗

(1)–(2)
I thank the member for the question, I have not been briefed on this matter but
I absolutely undertake to find out what has happened. I understand that if
there is a failure in the pumping system, then there are certain licensing
entitlements that the Water Corporation has to manage that situation. I can
only assume that the ''dumping'' to which the member referred has
been done with the authorisation of those authorities that allowed it to
happen, and I assume there were some responsibilities in terms of what the
Water Corporation should do as a consequence of that. I undertake to be briefed
on this matter, to find out the circumstances and to follow up on the issue
raised by the member.

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