EPA’s water testing after Menindee fish kill was flawed and insufficient, expert says

NSW environment agency took almost a month to release full results of six water samples taken from Darling-Baaka River five days after event

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Scientists have raised concerns about the accuracy of government water testing results from Menindee after a mass fish kill last month, with one saying if it were a first year university assignment, he would fail them.

The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) this week released the long-awaited test results on six water samples taken from the Darling-Baaka River almost one month ago, on 21 March. The samples were collected five days after millions of fish were reported to be floating on the river’s surface around the town of Menindee in far west NSW.

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The water samples were taken on 21 March, five days after the fish kill event began on 16 March.

The samples were collected by Water NSW, not the EPA.

Six samples do not provide an adequate sample size to draw accurate conclusions from.

Only one sample was taken at each of the six locations. He said multiple samples should have been taken as results can vary depending on whether samples were taken from the surface or deeper in the river.

Bacteria were not tested, and it should have been given there were millions of fish rotting in the water.