Used syringes caught up in yabby nets, and boxes of potentially disease ridden drug implements are all too common place on both the banks, and in the waters of Dubbo’s Macquarie River. Drug users obviously have chosen the local waterway as a preferred setting to inject, and have also found that the cities drains are an easy place to discard used syringes, both capped and uncapped.
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When the Inland Waterways organised a public clean-up of the Devils Hole reserve in 2015 due to community outcry at the tonnes of rubbish both in the water and on the river banks, over 30 boxes containing hundreds of used syringes were found. After filming video of rubbish pouring into the local river from a West Dubbo drain around 12 months later during a rain event, it was clear that not only was rubbish being left on the riverbanks, but it was also making its way into the Macquarie through the cities drains.
Inland Waterways, and thousands of people in the local community wanted to know how this could be happening to our local river, and sadly it was discovered that only approximately half of the cities drains have a Gross Pollutant Trap (GPT) in place to help stop waste making its way into the Macquarie River.
Soon after the Devils Hole reserve public clean-up, the state government’s container deposit scheme was announced. This was fantastic news for helping to eliminate drink containers and alike from entering the waterways, however, sadly this will do little to stop syringes, nappies and other waste from polluting our river.
Mayor of Dubbo Ben Shields has heard the communities cry for help, announcing that “Gross Pollutant Traps, are a simple yet novel idea that has only been a policy of council since the late 1990s and early 2000s. In very simplistic terms, they are collection of large cages that gather rubbish from storm water drains just before it hits our river. Not all of Dubbo’s stormwater network has these GPTs and so far they haven’t been a significant priority of the council. Wellington, who are now part of our regional team also has issues with stormwater pollution we can help to fix with GPTs”.
“Given that our community has clearly shown a deep care for our environment and the river, I have proposed a plan for these works to be completed within three years. Part of this will include the option of supercharging our grant application process while also including a better public river care education message,” Shields said.
With only half of Dubbo drains flowing into the Macquarie River having a gross pollutant trap, syringes and pollution are all too common.