By Benjamin Millar
Residents fighting for the devastated Stony Creek are taking their campaign to Parliament.
The waterway remains so heavily contaminated by the August 30 West Footscray fire that people and animals are still being warned to stay away from the creek and surrounding parkland.
Members and supporters of Friends of Stony Creek and Friends of Cruickshank Park will don black on the Parliament steps from 8.30am Thursday to hold a ‘memorial’ to “remind the Victorian Government the creek is in crisis”.
The rally comes after the groups wrote to Premier Daniel Andrews arguing that the environment and community in Melbourne’s inner-west has been severely compromised.
“The run-off from the fire has destroyed all life in the creek and it could take 10 years to recover to basic health,” they wrote.
“It will need longer than that and the prevention of further pollution events to ever return to a thriving ecosystem. This feels like ‘Groundhog Day’ for this community – this is not the first time Stony Creek has been seriously affected by industrial pollutants.”
Star Weekly has reported more than 2000 dead fish were washed up in the wake of the fire.
Residents living near the creek have continued to experience health problems, reporting headaches, blood noses, anxiety and other concerns.
Maribyrnong Council has become the lead agency in the recovery phase and is working with the EPA and Melbourne Water on finalising the draft recovery plan for Stony Creek.
Melbourne Water has spent $600,000 so far on the clean-up, including pumping contaminated water and removing wildlife destroyed by the fire.
The site of the fire has been handed over to the owner, who has been issued with EPA notices requiring they install security fences and keep run-off from entering stormwater drains.
The owner could be fined more than $48,000 plus $8,000 for every day they fail to comply with the notices.
EPA chief executive Cathy Wilkinson said the owners will be required to regularly report their progress to the EPA.
“We know the odour from the creek is unpleasant and may be affecting some people, so we’re encouraging people to limit their exposure.”
A police investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing.
Williamstown MP Wade Noonan is calling for the operator of the business to pay “the full cost of the environmental destruction” and face serious criminal sanctions if it is found the fire was caused by the illegal storage and handling of highly flammable and toxic materials and liquids.
Mr Noonan has written to the water and environment ministers urging the government to expedite the full recovery and clean-up plan.
A government spokesman said the state government will work with the relevant agencies to ensure there’s enough funding to manage the clean-up efforts and return Stony Creek to the state it was prior to the fire.
“Significant works have already occurred to clean up the area initially, remove contamination and prevent further spread of contaminates,” he said.
“A longer term remediation work is now underway which includes work on desilting and removing sediment. There will also be ongoing monitoring to ensure improvements are occurring.”
