While some may find the utterances of our Mayor, Cr Sharon Tapscott credible, the problem the association has with them is that they are often inaccurate, misleading or simply foolish.
Even though Cr Tapscott acknowledges that she doesn’t understand council’s finances, that doesn’t stop her from confidently assuring everyone that everything is order & that any apparent financial discrepancies are procedural in nature & only exist “for a moment in time” anyway.
But it’s not just Cr Tapscott’s bold but dubious statements on council’s finances that are cause for concern.
Amongst the erroneous claims made by
Cr Tapscott is that the construction of the proposed Ocean Outfall Pipeline
was dictated by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) when, in fact, the
EPA only confirmed the need for the pipeline after council had decided that it was its preferred option.
Cr Tapscott contends that there are only two avenues open to council to manage the disposal of treated sewage effluent from its Merimbula plant: some reuse for irrigation purposes & pumping the balance into the nearby pristine coastal waters.
Cr Tapscott asserts that the dunal exfiltration process currently used to dispose of almost half the treated effluent cannot continue “because of where the dunes are & what they represent to many people”.
The association understands that this is a reference to the possible presence of Aboriginal remains in the dunes & the fact that the current exfiltration ponds are in a very low location that is close to the water table where the effluent can leach toward the lake. But it also understands that if council was to adopt an appropriate management & mitigation strategy to ensure that archaeological remains were protected, as well as treat the effluent to a potable standard, then an alternate dunal exfiltration system could be developed to the north east of this area at a small cost compared to the proposed ocean outfall.
There are many in our community who believe that the most responsible way to deal with the disposal of our sewage effluent is to upgrade its treatment to a near potable or drinking water standard, minimising the environmental impact of the water, regardless of how it was ultimately disposed of.
The association understands that the cost to upgrade the STP would be similar to the cost of constructing the proposed Ocean Outfall Pipeline, but that there would be no negative environmental consequences as a result.
Cr Tapscott begs to differ. While she acknowledges that she “is not a scientist” (as does the association), she claims that the council has been told that “If you treat it too high (that is treat it to the point where it is drinkable) then you cannot use it for anything-else”.
This assertion is apparently based on the belief that effluent recycled to a potable standard contains too much nutrients.
Quite apart from the fact that nutrients can be removed as part of the treatment process, as some are now, & putting to one side the social question of asking the community if it would accept recycled effluent as drinking water provided it was properly treated, such recycled water is already put to other uses in Australia, including for irrigation or industrial use.
However, in the Goulburn Valley, wastewater is recycled & returned to the Goulburn River where it can eventually be harvested & processed per usual for drinking, while in Western Australia, the Groundwater Replenishment Scheme has been successfully trialled & full-scale development is proceeding. It returns recycled water to natural groundwater storage (aquifers) for later extraction as drinking water.
The association believes that treating the effluent to a near potable standard is the key & will provide for a lot more reuse options. This would allow for the development of an expanded exfiltration system in the dunal area at a fraction of the cost of the proposed ocean outfall pipeline, while freeing-up funds for the necessary treatment upgrades. For those extreme weather occasions where the system may become overloaded, we believe the existing outfall could still be utilized.
The Bega Valley community is a whole lot more enlightened than its council & that it would be negligent not to examine alternate strategies to the proposed Ocean Outfall Pipeline.
Given the ravages of drought & bushfire, the association believes it is high time that council started to think of sewage effluent as a potential valuable resource rather than an item of waste with little or no value.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au