Mystery ball closes nine beaches north of Sydney, months after fatberg washed ashore in NSW

Nine beaches in Sydney's north have been closed after spherical debris washed ashore.

Northern Beaches Council on Tuesday advised beachgoers to avoid Manly, Dee Why, Long Reef, Queenscliff, Freshwater, North and South Curl Curl, North Steyne and North Narrabeen beaches until further notice.

The council said in a Facebook post that it was working with the NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up the balls and send them for testing after the regulator warned it of the debris.

Most of the specimens found are marble-sized, although some are larger. They are white or gray in color, the committee said.

Thousands of spherical debris appeared on beaches in eastern suburbs including Bondi, Bronte, Coogee and Tamarama last October, forcing the beaches to temporarily close closure.

The mysterious balls were initially widely reported as “tar balls” composed of crude oil until tests coordinated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed they were consistent with human-generated waste — or “possibly fat clumps,” according to experts.

Guardian Australia reported that the Environmental Protection Agency knew the balls were consistent with human-generated waste for more than a week before making the information public as the US election results dominated headlines.

At the time, the EPA coordinated a statement disclosing that the pellets contained fatty acids, petroleum hydrocarbons and other organic and inorganic materials, including trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, hair, motor oil, food waste, animal matter and human feces.

At the time, a Sydney Water spokesman said there were “no issues with the normal operation of the Bondi or Malabar wastewater treatment plants”.

“Sydney Water acknowledges that the tar balls may have absorbed wastewater discharges and were present in the water when they were formed, however, they are not the result of our wastewater discharges,” it said at the time.

Beachgoers were warned to avoid the area after green, gray and black balls washed up on a beach in Coonnell, south of Sydney, in early December.

The EPA said at the time that its officials had collected samples for analysis and would test and compare them with other debris found on eastern beaches. Regulators have not released an update on the testing.

At the time, the NSW Greens said the EPA did not appear to be “closer” to discovering the source of debris washing up on Sydney beaches.

“The EPA cannot explain the source of the human waste that causes the fatbergs or reassure the public that Sydney's beaches are safe to use,” the party's environment spokesperson Sue Higginson said in December.

Fatty lumps are formed in drains when water-insoluble substances, including oils and grease, accumulate and stick together.

The NSW Environmental Protection Agency and Sydney Water were contacted for comment on Tuesday.