The Beagle Editor,
Eurobodalla Council tells us on their website that iIllegal dumping and littering means tossing, tipping or depositing waste on land and in water, where it pollutes the environment and can harm human health.
They say that dumped materials range from a piece of litter and small bags of rubbish to larger scale dumping of hazardous waste such as asbestos and chemicals in isolated bushland areas.
Council says they monitor illegal dumping in Eurobodalla. Penalties for illegal dumping range from $250 for littering and up to $1 million for corporations illegally disposing of waste.
Eurobodalla Council tells us that their rangers regularly patrol Council land, Crown land, state forest and national parks from Akolele to South Durras, and can provide assistance in investigating illegal dumping on private land.
Why is it then that any approach to Eurobodalla Council in regards to what can only be described as a cesspit of rubbish, abandoned cars, building rubble, caravans, reinforcing steel and god knows what else in the way of asbestos, oil and chemicals is ignored.
The beach is on the foreshore of the Clyde River. Just a few hundred metres away is the Big 4 Caravan Park. Allowing tourists to walk along this beach at low tide lets them see first hand how Eurobodalla prizes its foreshores and nature. What an embarrassment. With the amount of sharp bits of steel, glass, bricks, asbestos shards and the dark slime in the sand it is surprising that the Big 4 and Council don't put up a warning sign advising people not to walk on the beach.
It has been nearly a year since The Beagle published the article Surfside shoreline erosion is a growing concern
"With further erosion predicted for the Surfside shoreline as the Summer king tides come due there is mounting concerns that Council is failing in its duty to safeguard the Clyde River from the continued exposure of what appears to be dumped and buried material along with dumped car bodies ending up in our otherwise pristine Clyde waterway."
Name and address supplied
Editors Note:
The letter to the editor above has been sent to Council for comment.
The following questions were asked for comment:
The community have been reporting this dumping for over a decade. Council has been advised of illegal sea walls being created using dumped building material for may years. More recently there have been all manner of things buried including full cars (A Mitsubishi was recently exposed).
Why has Council allowed the continued dumping?
Why have they not acted on the illegal dumping?
Why, when advised of debris being exposed below the highwater line and presenting a risk to the community, hasn't Council taken action to remove the material and the public risk?
Why has Council allowed the public to access this beach knowing that there is exposed asbestos, unknown black liquid leaching from the sand after a king tide and rusted sharps along with all manner of other sharp debris on a beach that Council promotes as a Dog Friendly beach?
Can Council advise the ownership status of the land where the Mercedes and other dumped material are located? Is it Private, Council or Crown?
