NSW regulator chose to reveal content of Sydney’s mystery beach balls on day of US election

After debris balls were widely reported to be tar, testing coordinated with EPA revealed they were consistent with human-generated waste, or ‘likely lumps of fatberg’

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The NSW environment watchdog allegedly knew for more than a week that thousands of mystery balls that washed up on Sydney beaches last month were probably consistent with human-generated waste before it made the news public as US election results dominated headlines.

A statement from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) on Wednesday revealed the balls comprised fatty acids, petroleum hydrocarbons and other organic and inorganic materials – including traces of drugs, hair, motor oil, food waste, animal matter and human faeces.