HEAVY metals are flowing into the Trinity Inlet says Cairns 1st mayoral candidate Val Schier.

Ms Schier said an analysis of a sample taken last month from a drain that flows directly from the Portsmith landfill site revealed "shockingly unacceptable levels of heavy metals".

But Cairns City Council spokesman Gary Schofield said the council had already been advised by the Environmental Protection Agency that there was no problem with the landfill.

"Cairns City Council has been advised by the EPA, which is the monitoring authority for the old city dump, that it has visited the closed Portsmith landfill site on several occasions over the past month, including as recently as last week, and has subsequently advised council that it has no issues in relation to operation of the site," Mr Schofield said yesterday.

But Ms Schier said the laboratory work, undertaken by environmental services company SGS, indicated that the level of zinc in water taken from Trinity Inlet was 1000 times greater than the acceptable standard set by the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council for a marine water environment.

The Cairns Post sighted the report last night but was unable to contact the EPA to confirm the acceptable levels of contamination.

sighted the report last night but was unable to contact the EPA to confirm the acceptable levels of contamination.

"It further shows that the level of lead is 400 times higher, copper 1000 times higher and nitrogen 2000 times higher than an acceptable level," Ms Schier said.

"It is alarming and enormously disturbing that run-off from the landfill, with this level of toxicity, is polluting tidal wetlands."

In January, Ms Schier said illegal dumping was occurring at the landfill site but the claim was rejected by Cairns City Council.

"It is clear that the Bedminster system is not able to deal with the volume of waste going into it, the excess waste is not going to the Mareeba landfill, the alternative dumpsite, and instead truck after truck are dumping tonnes of untreated waste a day on the landfill site," she said.

Cairns 1st Division 5 candidate Richie Bates said Trinity Inlet was a major fish habitat that had been threatened 20 years ago by toxic dump waste from the Portsmith dump site.

 

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