Recovery update

Published on 12 October 2018

The main priority of Melbourne Water, EPA and Council was, and continues to be, the health and wellbeing of the local community, the waterway and native wildlife. All the agencies involved are committed to working together and importantly with the community including Friends of Stony Creek and Friends of Cruickshank Park to deliver on the recovery plan for Stony Creek.

The recovery of Stony Creek is a complex project which has required collaboration and joint planning.  The decision to commence work in Cruickshank Park was based on the immediate health and wellbeing of the community given it is a highly utilised and valued section of the creek. 

The activities listed below, form part of the recovery phase.

Melbourne Water's latest update

• Melbourne Water is continuing to do daily inspections of the creek to monitor the condition. A condition assessment of the creek along with testing undertaken by EPA on contaminants has informed the recovery plan.
• Our crews have been continuing to remove vegetation covered by black sludge in Cruickshank Park. Really good progress has been made and the vegetation removal from this section of the creek will be close to completion this week.
• Pressure washing rocks and concrete commenced on Monday 8 October upstream of Cruickshank Park.  We are also removing the affected vegetation in this section of the creek.  Clean-up works will be carried out along the creek until late 2018. We will keep the community updated about our progress and any changes to the timeframe.

EPA's latest update

• EPA officers have been inspecting the site on a daily basis to monitor compliance with notices and ensure environmental risks are being appropriately managed.
• We are conducting a further round of water monitoring this week; results will be published on our dedicated web page.
• We have conducted further inspections of sections of Stony Creek along with Melbourne Water, to better understand impacts and determine remediation strategies as part of the ongoing recovery effort.
• We have continued to work closely with site owner, tenant, and other agencies with the intent of developing a suitable approach to clean up the site.

• Last week officers spoke with Yarraville community members at Anderson St shopping precinct and visited the Warmies, Westgate Golf Course and Cruickshank Park to inspect and perform maintenance on signage.

Recovery committee update

• Melbourne Water will be completing Cruickshank Park sludge removal this week and continuing with Paramount to Geelong Road next week.
• EPA will be establishing sediment monitoring points which will provide the information that Melbourne Water need to develop a plan for targeted removal of sediment.
• Once Melbourne Water starts the sediment removal, they will begin at the top and work their way down.
• EPA will be gathering data on sediment at various depths along the Creek and in the backwash, which will inform how deep Melbourne Water need to go to remove sediment.