Coolum Creek,What happened?

[stack]

Saw a little report on the news last night bout a fish kill in Coolum Creek and got to wondering what happened up there. Theres been a lot of rain lately and couldn`t help but think if it was a sewage spill or some thoughtless cane farmer has been using pesticides,either way it`s a damn shame coz that creek is of vast importance to our local fish stocks and has been fishing really well this summer.If anyone has more information than I have I`d love to hear about it!! >:( :'(

[Slide]

Pretty quick to blame the cane farmers!!! Just in case you don't know, the cane farming industry around coolum has virtually collapsed as the mill closed down last year. Why would you pour pesticide onto a crop that you can't sell? The only reason there is still cane in the ground is because they couldn't be bothered harvesting it. It certainly isn't getting fertilised or getting any pesticide.

[Mick]

This is a guess in terms of seeing similar incidents further north. Apparently rapid changes in oxygen levels can cause fish kills. For example if there hadn't been any rain for a long time and a water body became very shallow and temperature increased because of less water, botulism can accur (which also results in a fish kill). On the flip side, the opposite can happen with too much fresh water which equals more flow / waterfalls / stronger rapids which result in increased oxygen in the water. Like i said, its just a guess, could of been caused by other means. I heard another fisherman did report a sewage spill on the same day.
Mick

[Maria]

Rapid rise in air and water temperature lead to low amounts of dissolved oxygen in the water, thus killing large amounts of fish. This in a confined waterway such as a creek kills fish quite quickly.

Ben

[propdinger]

i seen something on the news flash today to do with something about a sewerage spill or over flow missed most of it as i was working ::) and i never watch tv or read ausfish at work - right boss :-X
they showed alot of fish belly up and in dirty water could of been for that area i dont know

[stack]

My apologies to the cane farmers of Coolum.Still wether this kill is a result of a natural occurence or negligable behaviour will probably never be known,I can`t imagine council putting there hand up and admitting liability!!!

[mini696]

I dont believe the "experts" who blame these fishkills on (and I quote from the local news last night) "environmental abnormalities"... OK I agree that these sort of kills can be caused by environmental influences, but when a fishkill occurs so close to a sewerage outlet as often as it does in Coolum, one tends to stop believing its only coincidence.

[mini696]

I take the "cane farmers plight" with a grain of salt (or should that be sugar?).

A few farmers (not the majority) in that area have sold up (or given first preference) to developers, whether they can build homes on the land is still up for debate, but eventually due to the exploding population on the coast here, a lot of that cane land will become residential areas.

No matter what the pollies tell you, it will happen eventually, their (the councils') stance has already changed in the past few months from "The cane farms will not be rezoned" to "Eventually we'll have to release some more land for development".

I would bet that some of the farmers just cant make a profit out of their land as it is. So they are leaving whatever was growing in place until a buyer comes along. This would be especially prevalent in the easially seen areas (easially seen from main roads/existing residential areas) as well as in the areas close to existing developments.

I know this is off topic, but I cant stand the "poor me" mentality that the cane farmers have.

Mick

[redballoon]

ha all did some fishing there saturday and sunday and there were no dead fish on saturday , but on sunday they were every were from the boat ramp and even more up the creek we reported and my old man luky enough to make it in paper they thort it may be water being to hot but not a good sight fish with eyes popping out and the stench glad all we caught were dam cattys (and only 1 of those bastards i saw floating .

[mini696]

I was a bit dissapointed with my local council today.
The story goes like this...

Recently the company I work for built a large workshop, to expand our business. Part of the stipulations layed out in the building approval was we had to clean a concrete drain beside the block. They were specific about how we do this, and we had to be VERY careful about pollutants entering the drain during construction. The drain empties directly into Eudlo creek, and our workshop is only a few hundred metres from salt/brackish water.

Luck was on our side during construction, as we had little to no rain, so runoff from out site was very minimal. We cleaned the drain out as per the regulations (using a bobcat and dumptruck), all the weeds (1.5m high grass) and silt was removed to leave a clean concrete bottom. The drain is 2.5m deep, and 10m wide. and quite long (we had to clean 50m past the ends of our workshop which is 100m long itself).

That was 12 months ago...

Over the past year, we have had a bit of rain (no more than average), and the drain has therefore silted up, and the grasses are back (way worse than ever). Since construction has finished, the maintenance falls on the councils shoulders (as per the building approval).

So how does the council clean this drain? By spraying the whole area with roundup!!! Now, 2 days after they did this the grass is beginning to die (roundup causes plants (maybe animals) to grow super quick, and literally explode from the inside).

There used to be a family of Black Ducks (with the green under their wing), 8 of them. They are no-where to be seen.

There used to be a lot of guppies... None to be seen...

There used to be a lot of canetoad tadpoles, and juniors... They are still there (however their numbers seem to be down).

I only hope the council are planning to remove the dead grass and silt before it rains again and washed the rest of the poison into the ocean.

Mick

PS

To rub salt into the wound, there is a dead tree that has fallen onto the road over Christmas... Its still there... We asked the guy who was spraying the grass if he could remove it... "Not my problem" was the reply... I can accept that (he was there to do a specific job and may not have had the gear to remove it), but if an accident is caused by someone swerving to miss it, whose problem is it then?? Mine? because I have seen it and not removed it? The business for the same reason? Or the councils for not following up on their ratepayers calls? I refuse to pay $6 just to dump some green waste at the local dump (thats another story, how come you get charged $6 for green waste (which gets mulched and used on council parks), and $2.50 for a mix of everything (which is dumped in the landfill)??

Anyway a gripe for me... If anyone sees some dead fish in Eudlo Creek this may be a small factor.

Mick

[mini696]

What a difference 30 minutes can make....

The dead tree is being picked up as I type...

The council have apoligised for the roundup thing, and have said they wont do that again.

IMO it didn't need to be done in the first place...

Mick

[stack]

Way to go mini
Next time can you say something about the condition of Maroochydore rd,lol
Stack

[Mick]

Houdy dudy min?

Just thought I'd let you know that the average council worker (outdoor staff) is also a rate payer and he or she is hit up by every second person that walks, rides, drives and goes past them and they all have a complaint. Pot holes, untidy parks, a noisy dog living next door, the dodgy mayor won't listen to me, stop leaning on ya shovel, my wheely bin wasn't emptied, mosquitoes are bad, etc, etc. The poor buggers cop alot of slack because they are the face for council. Its the councillors we elect who should be hit up with any concerns.
Mick as well

[mini696]

Yeah I know... Its just so easy to pick on them ;) ;D

[Mick]

True dat Min. I don't blame them for there sour attitudes.

[mini696]

I dont believe the "experts" who blame these fishkills on (and I quote from the local news last night) "environmental abnormalities"... OK I agree that these sort of kills can be caused by environmental influences, but when a fishkill occurs so close to a sewerage outlet as often as it does in Coolum, one tends to stop believing its only coincidence.

God I hate being right.

Well its been revealed that this fish kill -which WAS blamed on rising temps taking the disolved oxygen out of the water- was actually caused by a chemical leak. The chemical is a commonly used agricultural insecticide and white ant killer (Chlorpyrifos).

Not only were we lied to by the EPA (it was an assumption of the EPA) , we were also put in danger because they (the EPA) said its OK to eat fish that have been affected (not killed) by lack of oxygen. Problem is those sick fish which people ate were't sick from lack of oxygen... No they were sick because of chemicals in the water.

They say it will take 2 weeks for the toxins to be released form the water and many more for the ecosystem to recover. They are already finding dead birdlife due to them eating poisioned fish.

I'm not happy. Nor am I suprised at the "coverup"

Mick