Community drop-in sessions were held in Merimbula on Saturday morning to give community members the opportunity to ask questions and provide input into the Merimbula Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) upgrade and Ocean Outfall project. 

The project stems from NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and community advice that the existing beach-face outfall and dunal exfiltration ponds at the Merimbula Sewage Treatment Plant are not sustainable.

The BVSC is working with AECOM to develop a concept design and environmental assessment for a deep ocean outfall and upgrade of the STP.

AECOM engineering consultants, Skye Jamieson and Stephane Potter accompanied BVSC water and sewerage services manager, Jim Collins to the sessions which were held at Bar Beach Merimbula and Hyland’s corner. 

“These sessions are an opportunity to get people thinking about the project,” Mr Collins said. “We are not claiming we are going to get it right. We want to drill down into community input and concerns.”

Ms Potter said that the sessions were also an opportunity to gather information that would help inform the project’s environmental impact statement (EIS). 

“We want to ensure that we are capturing everything we can in the environmental impact statement so we can be certain that the option we pick is the best one,” she said. 

The session at Bar Beach attracted a steady flow of interested community members, some stopping by before heading off for a surf.

 Reflected in community responses to the project were recreational and commercial interests with some of the critical concerns being the environmental impact of a deep ocean outfall. 

“Some of the concerns that we are hearing is in regards to the impact of this project on the marine life, the impact to the amenity of the bay and the issue of reusing effluent,” Mr Collins said.  

 The impacts of the region’s vital shellfish industry was also an area of some concern with questions asked about the behaviour of tides and currents that could potentially sweep effluent into nearby oyster and mussel beds.

“One of the biggest issues we have is how currents and tides behave,” Mr Collins said. “The project involves an extensive computer modelling exercise that will help us to better understand ocean currents, including the East Australian Current, and ocean temperatures.”

Mr Collins also addressed questions about expanding the council’s reuse program indicating that given the nature of our region’s climate, reuse is not always an option.

“This area experiences a lot of wet winters and wet summers which means that effluent is not always needed at nearby farms and sporting grounds.

“All indicators suggest that we require a reuse and disposal option,” Mr Collins said. 

Focusing on the issue of cost, Mr Collins said that the project is a difficult and complex one.  

“We need to consider environment vs. cost vs. carbon footprint,” he said. “it is a delicate balance.”

A third community drop-in session will be held at the Merimbula Seaside Markets, Sunday, March 18.