Mysterious balls wash ashore on Silver Beach in Kurnell weeks after similar incidents on Sydney beaches
Some of the balls that surfaced on the beach were black — similar to the debris that washed ashore on Sydney beaches in October. (Supplied: NSW EPA)
In short:
Debris has washed ashore on Silver Beach in Kurnell, with a member of the public alerting the EPA on Tuesday.
Sutherland Shire Council is cleaning up the beach, after installing warning signs and urging the public to avoid the affected area.
What's next?
The EPA has collected samples and is investigating.
Mysterious balls and other debris have washed ashore on a beach in Sydney's south almost two months after a similar incident in the city's east.
A small number of balls appeared on the eastern end of Silver Beach in Kurnell on Tuesday.
Members of the public spotted the debris and alerted the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
Sutherland Shire Council has installed warning signs along the affected section of the beach, advising the public of suspected contamination.
Council workers began cleaning up the beach about 7am on Thursday, with the public strongly urged to avoid the beach until the clean-up is finished.
The EPA is investigating the discovery of the debris. (Supplied: NSW EPA)
The EPA has collected samples of the debris as it investigates.
Sutherland Shire Council is monitoring nearby beaches to ensure the debris hasn't surfaced elsewhere.
Debris similar to what was found on other beaches
The Sutherland Shire Council are in charge of the clean-up. (ABC News: Digby Werthmuller)
According to the council, the balls that surfaced on the beach were white and grey. However, some of the balls were also black — identical to the debris that washed up on Sydney beaches back in October.
The black balls first surfaced on Coogee Beach on October 16.
There were soon more sightings at Bondi, Bronte, Tamarama, Maroubra, Little Bay, Malabar, Frenchmans and Congwong beaches.
The beaches were immediately closed while a clean-up effort took place and health authorities issued a public warning after initial testing by Randwick City Council concluded they may be tar balls, which are toxic.
However, researchers discovered that the balls were made up of lumps of human faeces, drugs and PFAS chemicals.
A plethora of tests revealed they are more similar to "fatbergs", commonly found in sewage systems.
White and grey debris was found on the beach on Tuesday morning. (Supplied: NSW EPA)
University of NSW chemistry professor Jon Beves, who analysed the debris, said they also contained cooking oils, diesel or fuel and recreational drugs, including THC and methamphetamine.
"They're consistent with human-generated waste, the sort of thing that you would have in a sewer," he said.
"I don't know if it's come from our local sewer system, or if it's been discharged from a boat, or if it's been washed from the sewers into the stormwater, or some other origin that we really don't know.
"It's definitely not from from an oil spill. It's human-generated waste or pollution that somehow made it into the water."
He said the balls were "extremely unpleasant" to work with and carted around the university to various departments for a range of different analysis.