Environmental Incidences

What is an Environmental Incidence?

An environmental incident is any incident that has the capacity to threaten or cause environmental harm. Environmental harm being any adverse effect, or potential adverse effect (whether temporary or permanent and of whatever magnitude, duration or frequency) on an environmental value, and includes environmental nuisance.

What are the Environmental Incidence Types?

Environmental incidents include both natural and non-natural hazards.

Natural hazards can include events such as cyclones, flooding, heatwaves and bushfires, earthquakes and tsunamis. Natural hazards can also include biological incidents and can be either natural or non-natural. Natural biological incidents generally relate to disease outbreaks associated with animals and plants.

Non-natural hazards can include chemical, biological and radiological incidents.

Chemical incidents can include vehicle and industrial spill accidents and industrial fires.

Non-natural biological incidents can include disease outbreaks, either accidental or deliberate, affecting human health.

Radiological incidents involve the release of radioactive material.

How to Report Environmental Incidences?

To report environmental incidences i.e. chemical/oil /sewage spill in residential area or on council land, please contact Environmental Health Services on 4776 4607 or email hschealth@hinchinbrook.qld.gov.au. 

Other environmental incidence contacts:

Wildlife relocators - Refer Yellow Pages

Report sick, injured or orphaned wildlife, marine animal strikes or marine animal strandings - RSPCA Queensland - 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625)

Report crocodile sightings, or injured cassowaries - 1300 130 372

Report C3 bats, including flying-foxes (a bat that has bitten or scratched a person, or the person has had exposure to the bat's saliva or neural tissue) - 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84)

Pollution incidents from a commercial source, including fish kills phone the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) “Pollution Hotline” 1300 130 372 or complete the written notice Duty to Notify of Environmental Harm to EHP when a person becomes aware of an incidence that may have caused or threatens serious or material environmental harm.