DEAR News Of The Area,
I DON’T think that the fish kills in the Myall Lakes are attributable to the partial blockage of one of the channels around Corrie Island.
Major fish kills always follow major flooding.
In 1948, scientists estimated that there were 50,000 boxes of dead fish around the lakes.
Throughout the 1970s, there were multiple outbreaks linked to major earth excavations, exposing the soils to oxygen.
I believe that the culprit is the actuation (by flooding) of acid sulphate soils which were formed by the interaction of iron, organic matter and salt water.
In dry times (of low water table) oxygen combines with the acid-sulphate mix to form sulphuric acid which is washed into the waterways after heavy rains causing major fish deaths.
“The river is not blocked at its mouth and dredging will not work to change the water quality” (Peter Scanes, Newcastle Herald, 8/1/2009).
Yours faithfully,
Robert ADAMS,
Hawks Nest.
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