Shortly after Sydney Water accidentally released contaminated sewage from its Bombo treatment plant on December 18, 2017, the agency assured the public the brown, tinted water had been fully disinfected.
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They said it posed no risk to public health or the environment, and it was likely caused by an equipment fault at the plant, built in 2009.
On Monday, the Environmental Protection Authority confirmed Cr Sloan’s information was correct.
“The EPA investigated a leak from Sydney Water’s sewage treatment plant at Bombo and found Sydney Water had breached its environment protection licence and the Protection of the Environment Operations Act,” the spokesperson said.
“The discharge resulted in minimal environmental and public health impacts.”
The contamination incident took place on the eve of the Junior Surfing World Championships at Bombo in January.
In March, Cr Sloan called for full disclosure on the leak.
Later in the year, Kiama Council, the EPA, NSW Health and Sydney Water held a meeting at which parties were briefed on the matter.
“We asked questions about how the spill happened and Sydney Water was open to talking about what had gone wrong,” Cr Sloan said.
On August 31, at the completion of its investigation, the EPA issued Sydney Water with a formal warning and advisory letter, encouraging the agency to comply with the act in future.
On the same day, the EPA shared investigation findings with Kiama Council.
Cr Sloan said the EPA sent council staff an email about investigation findings.
Cr Sloan said staff, who wanted to read the full report, were disappointed with the EPA’s brevity.
“I want to see the EPA report,” Cr Sloan said.
“I want to make sure the investigation has been thorough, and see precisely what mechanisms are being put in place for that to never happen again.”
