Brisbane River 'a sewer pipe'

Brisbane River 'a sewer pipe'

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE — The Brisbane River, and the Bremer River flowing into it from Ipswich, have become "sewer pipes", funnelling pollution, effluent and sediment into Moreton Bay, a report has revealed.

The report was compiled by the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay Waste Water Management Study scientific advisory group.

The report says there is nothing left intact in the river systems to "allow sewage to be processed before it hits the bay." Fish and crabs from the rivers are unfit for human consumption because of high levels of arsenic and DDT.

Moreton Bay's polluted waters are destroying the recreational fishing industry, costing tens of thousands of jobs, an anglers' organisation warned on January 12.

Scientific advisory group deputy chair Bill Morrison said that Moreton Bay is at risk of becoming an undersea desert unless authorities fight river pollution.

From GLW issue 345