Ball-shaped debris back on NSW beaches; source still unknown

Three months after mysterious ball-shaped debris first started washing up on NSW beaches, the balls appear to be back with a vengeance.

Preliminary analysis of the original debris, which was found on beaches in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs back in October, found it was consistent with the makeup of tar balls — dark, spherical, sticky blobs formed from weathered oil which have been appearing on coastlines around the word for decades. But test results released in early November found the balls contained mainly fatty acids, a small portion of petroleum hydrocarbons, and other materials, including human hair, various fibres and bacteria which are commonly associated with wastewater. The final test — a petroleum hydrocarbon profile and biomarker analysis, also known as oil fingerprinting — showed that the petroleum hydrocarbons in the balls were similar to intermediate or heavy fuel oils, often used in shipping.

Transport for NSW Maritime examined weather patterns and ocean currents in the days before the event to determine whether the balls could have resulted from a marine fuel spill but did not find anything conclusive. Sydney Water also confirmed that there were no issues with the Bondi or Malabar water resource recovery facilities at the time the balls were reported. Ultimately, NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Executive Director of Regulatory Practice and Services Stephen Beaman said the experts could not trace the formation of the debris balls to any specific incident or source.

But the story didn’t end there, as similar balls were handed in to the EPA by a Kiama community member in mid-November, with testing revealing a similar composition to the Eastern suburbs balls. The EPA was then alerted to ball-shaped debris at the eastern end of Silver Beach at Kurnell in early December, and on two South Coast beaches (1080 Beach and Pooles Beach) in mid-December. Finally, debris balls appeared in Sydney’s Northern Beaches region in mid-January, at Manly, Dee Why, Long Reef, Queenscliff, Freshwater, North and South Curl Curl, North Steyne and North Narrabeen.

On 18 January, the EPA announced it was re-opening and expanding its investigation into the cause of the debris balls, with Director of Operations Adam Gilligan saying a team of technical experts in pollution matters and specialist investigators would explore all lines of enquiry including potential connections between the various incidents.

“Investigating pollution incidents from unknown sources is incredibly challenging, but we will work with other government agencies and examine all potential sources with site visits commencing today,” Gilligan said.

“This will include possible land-based causes such as Sydney Water’s sewerage system, stormwater systems, as well as seaborne sources such as a cruise ship or other vessels. We’re also looking into potential illegal trade waste discharge into stormwater.

“We are also undertaking the same chemical analysis of debris balls found … on the Northern Beaches as was conducted on debris balls found on other beaches across NSW.”

Preliminary test results from Northern Beaches Council identified hydrocarbons in the debris, while later results indicated the presence of saturated fatty acids, faecal coliforms and E. coli. The EPA will compare its own samples with those collected by Council.

Image courtesy Northern Beaches Council