A major sewage spill along the Albert River is being labeled the Gold Coast‘s worst environmental disaster.
An independent investigation will be launched into the leak to determine how close to 145 Olympic-sized swimming pools full of sewage ended up in the waterway.
It is unclear when the pipe started leaking however authorities suspect it was around January.
It is understood the local council detected the spill two weeks ago.
The spill has caused concern and some nearby prawn farmers have been told to stop operations.
“Having such a major failure rightly has locals saying what has gone on on here,” Gold Coast City councillor Mark Hammel said.
“What processes, what people have failed to do their jobs properly and what is going to be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again on this kind of scale.”
Water testing is underway at the river and both recreational and commercial fishing is not recommended.
