Current alerts affecting Port Phillip Bay and its associated water catchments
PFAS risk assessment on fish in Maribyrnong River
Issued Tuesday, 7 May 2019 at 2.00 pm
EPA has conducted a risk assessment on levels of PFAS in fish caught from the Maribyrnong River. As a result EPA recommends anglers don’t consume fish caught from the Maribyrnong River upstream of Solomons Ford in Avondale Heights to Deep Creek at Bulla, and within all of Arundel Creek.
Avoid water in Stony Creek
Issued Friday, 31 August 2018 at 6.30 pm
As a precaution consider avoiding eating fish from Stony Creek and Lower Yarra until further notice.A large industrial fire at West Footscray has led to significant amounts of fire water running into Stony Creek. EPA testing has found a range of chemicals in the water including detergents, industrial solvents such as phenol and a group of volatile industrial solvent compounds called BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) and fire combustion by-products (polyaromatic hydrocarbons). This explains the odour in Stony Creek and fish deaths and reinforces our message to avoid the area. We are not testing for asbestos in water because the risk to humans in water is low.Water quality monitoring has not detected pollution from fire water in the Lower Yarra River and Hobsons Bay.
Reviewed 9 September 2020
