Cairns bitumen spill
Current at 31 October 2025 3:35pm (AEST)
Now the initial spill response has stabilised, if there are any significant changes or investigation outcomes, this page will be updated.
- On 16 October this incident response moved into a business-as-usual phase.
- In the coming weeks, as a precaution, monitoring and observations will continue in Smiths Creek and Trinity Inlet.
- An investigation is under way.
- As a precaution, people should not consume seafood captured in the area.
- We are working with Queensland Health to sample and test marine species in the area – this page will be updated when the health advice about consuming seafood changes.
- On 31 October, the pelican affected by the spill was released back into the wild on the Cairns Esplanade.
What happened?
On 29 September, a spill of approximately 10,000 litres of kerosene and bitumen occurred into Smiths Creek, Cairns, adjacent to Trinity Inlet.
As Queensland’s environmental regulator, our immediate focus was to activate an incident response and contain and clean the contaminated area. We took action to minimise the impacts to wildlife, the environment, local businesses and the public.
The spill was of a bitumen product that occurred from the Boral asphalt site at Portsmith.
Our investigation will continue in the coming months, including water quality monitoring and sampling, and we will determine what compliance action is necessary.
During the incident we worked closely with Government agencies and stakeholders, including the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Maritime Safety Queensland, Queensland Health, Department of Primary Industries and Boral.
Given the proximity of this spill to the Great Barrier Reef, our immediate priority was to ensure it did not spread further.
We acknowledge Boral self-reported this issue and worked collaboratively with authorities on the clean up and response.
The spill source was stopped. A significant portion of the spill was contained in on-water booms and collected for disposal. The extent of the spill was largely within a section of Smiths Creek along the shoreline rock wall and the mangroves on the eastern side.
As a precaution, the on-water booms at the release point were kept in place until confirmation there was no further risk of contaminants mobilising from the drain, with the final booms removed on 30 October.
The spill material consisted of bitumen with a light kerosene solvent. This meant the product weathers to a semi-solid relatively quickly and became far less tacky, less mobile and less toxic.
While the spill is highly visible on the mangroves and rock walls, we do not expect significant long term environmental impacts.
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On-water booms were effective in containing contaminants that were then recovered and taken to a waste facility. Any free floating contaminant that was observed outside the booms was also collected. No further contaminant has been observed within the on-water booms and there have been no further free floating contaminant in Trinity Inlet.
Environmental impact
Fish, crabs and other sealife appear to be in usual abundance and moving around without adverse impact.
We are aware the contaminant collected on mangroves and infrastructure, such as rock walls, and that it has hardened and is no longer mobile. We engaged expert and scientific advice and considered case studies from other regions, assessed risks and determined best practice is to leave the residue undisturbed.
Mangrove habitats are very sensitive to any disturbance. Expert advice and past experience suggest that large scale contaminant removal is likely to cause disturbance and long-term harm to the mangrove environment.
Both mechanical and chemical removal of contaminants from rocks and other hard surfaces was carefully assessed. However, removal of the now immobile residue is both likely to remobilise contaminants into the water column and cause further harm as well as being impracticable from a safety perspective.
Allowing the residues to naturally weather over time has been assessed as the best option to protect the environment.
No impact is expected to coral reefs.
Investigation
As Queensland’s environmental regulator, our immediate focus for an incident such as the Cairns bitumen spill, is to coordinate the containment and clean up and take action to minimise the impacts to wildlife, the environment, local businesses and the public.
During the first two weeks of the response, daily (and sometimes twice-daily) incident management team meetings occurred, and we were in regular contact with our response partner agencies. We also spoke with a number of local community organisations who were, understandably, concerned about the spill impacts and interested in our investigation.
Our Cairns compliance officers and Queensland Parks and Wildlife rangers were on-site daily (including the October long weekend) at the spill location and in the surrounding area making observations, installing signage, talking with the community, handing out information flyers, taking photo and video evidence (including drone flights) and taking samples for analysis.
This work supported the immediate response effort and also focussed on the collection of data and evidence to inform our investigation and enforcement decisions.
Our partners in the clean-up also undertook their own similar response activities.
Investigating matters that involve alleged breaches of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 can be complicated and needs to be thorough and based in evidence. This means it can take some time depending on the complexity of the incident.
In the case of the Cairns spill, it will take time before we will be able to determine if and what compliance action is appropriate.
Compliance actions can include fines, convictions, rehabilitation and clean up orders to repair damaged environments and environmental licence and permit actions that can suspend or prohibit operations from continuing.
You can read more about the work of our investigations team at the Regulation Insider.
Pelican search
Soon after the spill, there were several reported sightings of a pelican who appeared to be contaminated.
A search and rescue operation was launched and the female pelican was located and captured on 17 October.
A vet completed an assessment and treatment, and the pelican went into the care of a local wildlife carer. While being cared for, the pelican was bathed and contaminants were removed by combing her feathers. She was reported to still have a few black spots of contamination, but these will come out over time when she moults.
On 31 October, at low tide on the Cairns Esplanade, the pelican was treated to a meal of fish then released back into the wild.
Her release was possible thanks to the incredible care and commitment of one of Queensland’s many licenced wildlife carers.
Our Wildlife Rangers, agencies involved in the clean up, seabird experts and wildlife rescue organisations were involved in the search to locate and capture the pelican.
There were numerous sightings of the pelican along the Cairns Esplanade and in Smiths Creek, before the animal was captured.
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On 31 October, the pelican affected by the spill was released back into the wild.
Health
- Queensland Health advises that seafood from the contaminated area should not be eaten.
- Refer to the map (above) for contamination area.
- Seafood from the broader Trinity Inlet area that is exhibiting signs of tainting (such as abnormal odour, taste or visible contamination) should not be eaten.
- Do not touch or collect contaminants.
- Anyone who has concerns about seafood, can report the matter to 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
- We are working with Queensland Health to sample and test species in the area – this page will be updated when the health advice about not eating seafood changes.
Information for fishers and boaters
During the incident response phase, impacted boats had to be cleaned before they could be used in Trinity Inlet and other unimpacted areas. This was important to ensure that any toxins associated with the material did not spread to other areas.
To help boaties we compiled a vessel cleaning protocol and decision tree (PDF, 202KB) .
Advice about how to clean boats and dispose of the contaminants was also available through Boral.
All boat ramps in the area are open for use.
During the incident, boaties were also an important part of the response – they were asked to keep a lookout and report contaminants to our Pollution Hotline.
Information for local businesses
We understood concerns from businesses in the area who use water from these water ways. During our incident response we worked with those business to address their concerns and keep them informed.
More information
If you have health concerns related to the bitumen spill contact 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).
If you observe small areas of contaminants in the area or injured wildlife report it to our Pollution Hotline.
If your boat has been impacted by the spill and still requires cleaning, contact Boral by emailing community@boral.com.au for advice and support.
For general enquiries about the spill contact our Pollution Hotline.