Break O’Day mayor Mick Tucker says the impact of oyster farms being forced to closed after a sewage spill at St Helens would be signifcant for the region.
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“Any time we have businesses that close down it has a financial effect, how big that will be we don’t know but unfortunately it is in the hands of the gods,” he said.
“When this happens, no matter where you are, if the Health Department puts a contamination alert out, you have to deal with the consequence but there is nothing we can do about it.”
Heavy rainfall on Thursday morning led to an overflow into Georges Bay from TasWater’s Esplanade Sewage Pump Station leading to a mandatory shut down of six shellfish suppliers.
Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff said “the sewage related closures will be in place for 21 days, during which time DPIPWE will continue to work with Oysters Tasmania and the growers affected so that they can return to market as soon as possible.”
Cr Tucker said he hoped the contamination would clear quickly.
“The reality is that the Department of Health do a test and they will continue to test the water until it is safe so people can be rest assured that the quality of product in the market is OK and what will not be in the market is anything that may be contaminated,” he said.
A TasWater spokesperson said compensation would not be offered to business owners affected by the spill.
“The rainfall on Friday morning was in excess of what could reasonably be expected to be handled by the Esplanade Pump Station,” the spokesperson said.
“The $1.2 million upgrade to the Esplanade Pump Station is expected to be complete by November [and] three of the four pump stations in St Helen's have already been upgraded.
“They are designed for local conditions and capacity is to combat a one-in-five-year weather event.”
The spokesperson said TasWater had contributed funds to pursue processes such as the bacteriophage test, which could reduce closure time from 21 days to 10.