Cade Lucas
Confusion surrounds the source of an oil spill in the Maribyrnong River earlier this week, including whether it was an oil spill at all.
Environment Protection Authority Victoria issued an environmental alert on Tuesday, March 18, following reports of an oily sheen with a strong odour in the Maribyrnong River near the Shepherd Bridge in Footscray.
The EPA alert warned members of the public to not to come into contact with the water while the source was investigated.
The following day, the EPA confirmed that the spill had been contained and officers had traced it back to roadworks being done at the Joseph Road apartment precinct roughly a kilometre upstream.
“EPA officers believe material from roadworks on Joseph Road had been washed into the drain by recent rain,” said EPA western metropolitan regional manager Jeremy Settle in a statement provided to Star Weekly.
“The material gave the discharge a strong hydrocarbon or bitumen smell, and road workers were cleaning it out of the drain with a high-pressure hose.”
Civil contractor, GP Bluestone, is the company responsible for road works at the Joseph Road precinct.
The man in charge, GP Bluestone project manager, Luis Rojas, said while his workers had used hoses to flush out drains at the site, there was no oil spill.
“We’re not working with oil at all in that project,” said Mr Rojas who added that he’d spoken to the EPA to clarify this.
“This was the result of washing storm water pipes. It was dirty water out of the storm water pipes not oil,” he said, pointing out that the drains had a trap attached designed to prevent heavy sediments and rubbish from flowing into the river.
An EPA spokesperson said while Mr Rojas and his team may not have used oil themselves, there could’ve been oil or other hydrocarbons in the sediment washed out of the storm water drains, which then looked and smelt like an oil spill once in the river.
Local resident and spokesperson for the Joseph Road Precinct Action Group Rhett Warren said that a settling pond for storm water to drain into before entering the river, was originally part of public realm plans (PRP) for the Joseph Road site, but had not been delivered.
Maribyrnong council was contacted for comment.
