Albert River sewage spill investigation
Open larger image
The department’s compliance officers have visited multiple Albert River sites to conduct water sampling as part of the investigation.
On 27 September 2024, we reached one of Queensland’s largest environmental enforcement decisions following our investigation into the impact of the Albert River sewage spill.
The City of Gold Coast Council has agreed to a $2.1 million enforceable undertaking which will result in environmental improvements including better water quality and a significant upgrade to the city’s sewage network.
An enforceable undertaking is an enforcement tool under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 that sets out actions that must be carried out to remedy any environmental harm, prevent further occurrences and address non-compliance issues to ensure compliance with the Act and enhance the protection of the environment.
The enforceable undertaking requires Council to carry out environmental restoration works across the Albert and Logan River estuaries, as well as vital improvements to its aging sewerage infrastructure including enhanced leak detection systems and monitoring of the network.
We launched an investigation into the cause and extent of environmental harm after more than 450 million litres of sewage spilled into the Albert River between January and April 2024 following the failure of a council pipe in Yatala.
Our investigation determined Council had caused significant environmental impact by unlawfully releasing contaminates to waters.
When considering appropriate enforcement action, we determined the community would be best served by ensuring ratepayer monies remained in the local community rather than Council bearing the costs of a prosecution and ultimately any penalty imposed.
Key requirements of the enforceable undertaking include:
- a $1.1 million project to remove weeds and plant native vegetation at August Burrow Park, Alberton that will improve the condition of the wetlands, improve water quality, provide better habitat connectivity and improve the biodiversity and resilience of the ecosystem
- a $120,000 project to remove weeds and plant native vegetation at Halls Road Nature Reserve, Luscombe
- a more than $1 million project to design and implement an enhanced sewer network monitoring project that will significantly reduce the risk of future sewage spills
- the provision of high value scientific data to the department and industry
- substantial improvements to infrastructure management systems and processes including condition assessments of all high-risk infrastructure.
We are satisfied with Council’s response to the incident, cooperation in our investigation and its commitment to fully implement the recommendations from its own independent investigation into the cause of the spill.
Community health
There are no ongoing community health concerns for waterways related to this incident.
Reporting pollution
Community reports about significant pollution incidents are vital to our work and can be made via the Pollution Hotline.
What’s next?
The investigation is now closed, but we will continue to monitor council’s compliance with the Enforceable Undertaking.
Strong penalties can apply if council fails to comply with the requirements of the enforceable undertaking.
Investigation
The investigation was launched in April 2024, after council notified the department about the spill.
During the investigation, our Compliance Officers have been regularly onsite conducting water sampling at multiple Albert River locations.
We also examined the extent of environmental harm to the Albert and Logan Rivers caused by spill, the notifications of the health and environmental risks and council’s culpability in the overall management of their sewage collection network.
Water quality monitoring
We undertake routine water quality monitoring in the Albert River eight times a year on behalf of Healthy Land and Water, under the Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program. The Healthy Land and Water Report Card data is available by visiting the Interactive data dashboard. Data for the Albert River EHMP is available by visiting the Interactive data dashboards and selecting “WaterNav – Estaurine/Marine” and then selecting “Albert River”.
This program monitors a standard suite of water quality indicators for ecological assessment that provides limited information about the extent that pollutants are actually impacting on waterway flora and fauna.
This testing underpins the South East Queensland Healthy Waterways Report Card, which builds community awareness of long-term waterway conditions, pressures, actions and social benefits.
While it was never intended to be an alert system for sewage infrastructure failure, the long term data for the Albert and Logan Rivers was analysed as part of the department’s investigation.
Open larger image
During the investigation, our compliance officers have visited multiple Albert River sites to conduct water sampling and collect plant and fish specimens to assess the environmental impacts of the sewage spill. Our investigation determined there had been significant environmental impacts by the unlawful release of contaminates to waters.