Cabonne Council (Council) operates sewerage schemes at Molong, Canowindra, Eugowra, Cudal and Manildra. The Molong and Canowindra STPs operate under Environment Protection Licences (EPL) 1623 and 1750 respectively which are issued under Section 55 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).
The EPLs contain requirements to report pollution incidents as outlined in Section 6, Reporting conditions:
The licensee or its employees must notify the EPA of incidents causing or threatening material harm to the environment immediately after the person becomes aware of the incident in accordance with the requirements of Part 5.7 of the Act.
R2.1 Notifications must be made by telephoning the Environment Line service on 131 555.
R2.2 The licensee must provide written details of the notification to the EPA within seven days of the date on which the incident occurred.
The introduction of the Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment Act 2011 (POELA Act) in February 2012 requires that holders of EPLs maintain a Pollution Incident Response Management Plan (PIRMP).
The PIRMP will form a component of the site-based management plans for each licensed site.
Council has not received any complaints relating to the Molong Sewer Treatment Plant or the Canowindra Sewer Treatment Plant.