Rising Tide Australia

The community group responsible for erecting signs around Newcastle Harbour warning the public not to fish or swim in the water has denied that the signs are a “hoax".

Rising Tide Newcastle spokesperson Steve Phillips said: “There is nothing on those signs that is not true. Newcastle Harbour is being dredged, and highly toxic materials are known to be present in the sediment. There is a real risk that contaminants may be present in the water, and the public has a right to know that.”

“Rising Tide strongly believes that the assessment and approvals process for the dredging of Newcastle Harbour has been seriously flawed. The amount of toxic sediment to be dredged has tripled since environmental assessment of the dredging was undertaken, and yet the NSW Government has allowed dredging to go ahead.”

“We believe that both the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group, and the NSW Government, have placed the health of the Hunter Estuary, and the people who use it, at risk. Not only that, but they have failed to alert the public of that risk.”

“Rising Tide believes the public has a right to know of the risk of contamination associated with the Hunter River dredging. Since nobody else was telling them, we felt it was up to us.”

Photos of the signs can be seen here and here.