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MORE than a month after the problem was first reported authorities are no closer to identifying just what was responsible for a fish kill in Farmers Creek.
Back on September 22 the Lithgow Mercury reported that significant numbers of dead trout had been found in the stream.
The dead fish — some of them pan sized brown trout — had been found lying on the creek bed over a distance of more than 200 metres at Oakey Park, mainly east of Zig Zag School.
The find had caused concern for parents of children who play in the water and for family pets.
But it seems delays in getting a notification to Lithgow Council had derailed any prospect of pinpointing the cause.
After learning of the fish kill the council’s environment department sent rangers to the waterway to retrieve some of the fish for analysis.
Council, the Environment Protection Agency, Fisheries and Central Acclimatisation Society all became involved.
But it proved to be a frustrating and ultimately fruitless investigation.
It seems that council found out about the mystery kill too late to allow an effective investigation.
Residents who had first noticed the dead fish contacted the Lithgow Mercury several days later.
The Mercury in turn notified council.
Council’s Environment and Development Manager Andrew Muir said yesterday that rangers collected specimens the same day but it was already too late.
Mr Muir said that by the time the dead trout were recovered the level of decomposition was such that it had not been possible to determine the cause of death.
He appealed to residents along any of the local streams to immediately notify council of any fish kills.
“That way we have a better chance of pinpointing the cause,” he said.
Mr Muir said that the most common causes of fish kill in fresh water were a low oxygen level, pollution including pesticides or other chemicals from homes or industry.
He said the EPA had carried out an investigation along the waterway without identifying possible causes.
“But at the end of the day we were no more informed than when we started,” he said.