Dead eels and gasping fish: Gold Coast council told to fix sewer issues

The Gold Coast council has been ordered to fix its sewage system after multiple major spills, one of which left fish gasping for oxygen and dead eels floating on the surface of a highly significant waterway that reeked of excrement.

The Department of Environment Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) issued the council an environment enforcement order last week that describes three sewage leaks between September and December 2024.

The order follows the discovery of a corroded pipe that leaked 450 million litres of sewage into the Albert River near Yatala from January to April last year.

The sewage spill along the Albert River was labelled the Gold Coast’s worst environmental disaster. Credit: Nine News

In the order, the department said council’s inability to act on previously iden