Council successful install temporary bypass to Mudgee Sewage Plant

Raw sewage was released into the Cudgegong River from Thursday, March 25 after Council employees discovered pipes had been eroded at the Mudgee Sewage Treatment Plant.

Mid-Western Regional Council general manager Brad Cam told Magic 87.6 the extraordinary meeting was required due to emergency approval of funding for the bypass works.

"We only have, for emergencies, up to $100,000 and we needed at least $500,000 to fix this problem so we had to call an emergency extraordinary meeting," Mr Cam said.

"We discovered there was a small sinkhole that appeared next to the internal road at the site. When operators started digging to see what the problem was, they discovered the steel pipes under the ground had been completely eaten out.

"We have two lines coming in and about 30 metres each of those lines, we're talking 60 lineal metres of line that's gone, eaten away by the gases that build up. There is absolutely nothing left of the pipes."

According to information received by Mr Cam, it is believed two and a half to three thousand kilolitres of raw sewage was dispersed in a 24 hour period.

"There is no problem in the quality of water that's going through our water treatment plan to the Gulgong residents," Mr Cam said.

The bypass pump is a temporary solution for the Sewage Treatment Plant but since it has been deployed, there has been no discharge of sewage flows to the Cudgegong River.

Council managed the issue in consultation with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE Water) and NSW Health.

Council will continue to provide updates via local media and social media as soon as they become available.

*Note: originally the story read to say two and a half to three thousand megalitres of sewage had been dispersed, however, the general manager misspoke which has now been corrected.

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