Excerpt:
City invented Australia’s beach culture, environmentalist Richard Gosden says, but all this time ‘it’s been conducted in diluted sewage’
It’s the height of summer in Sydney, a time when tourists and locals are usually flocking to the city’s famous beaches.
But nine beaches were shut to the public this week – including well-known Manly – after more ball-shaped debris washed ashore.
Similar sticky round globules have been found on many of the city’s beaches over the past six months, forcing some of them to close temporarily.
The New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has said the balls remain a “genuine mystery”.
But there’s a growing number of experts and observers who believe Sydney’s unusual sewerage system is to blame.
“We know it’s a sewage source,” says the water policy expert Prof Stuart Khan. “The combination of different chemical contaminants, human hair, is a very strong indicator that sewage is ultimately the source.”
In October last year, thousands of black balls washed up on several eastern suburbs beaches including Bondi, Bronte, Coogee and Tamarama.
Those balls were initially widely reported to be “tar balls” comprising crude oil until testing coordinated with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) revealed they were consistent with human-generated waste…
ABC News |10-15-2024 (Australia):
Mysterious black balls wash up on Sydney’s Coogee Beach
Hundreds of mysterious black tar spheres have washed up on Coogee Beach in Sydney’s east. The discovery has prompted authorities to close the entire beach as the Randwick City Council investigates the origin of the objects.
