Helping a small community when their water supply was affected by a petrol leak
A leak from an underground fuel tank at the local store into the town’s groundwater supply in February last year has meant residents in the small community of Woolomin, north of Tamworth, have had to make significant changes to their home water use.
This has been very difficult for the small community of just 200, who want to support the local store owners and see them get back to business at some stage in the near future.
Tamworth Council and the EPA have been in regular contact with residents about the extent of the contamination, keeping them up to date with investigation work underway by EPA officers and consultants GHD, discussing test results and the status of their local household bores.
The EPA, through an Environmental Trust Grant, is funding the investigation. While the final report is still being prepared by consultants GHD, initial results show the contamination has only impacted bores in the immediate vicinity of the General Store.
With such a close knit community, the EPA has held to its commitment to continue regular engagement with residents, ensuring they are kept informed and up to date. The efforts have been well received with the general store owners commenting to local media in March that it had been “reassuring” to have the EPA’s support throughout the contamination issue.
Woolomin Gold Rush store owner Shane Douglas was quoted in the Northern Daily Leader as saying “It probably might be 10 years before the water will actually be back to normal”.
“The people don’t understand because they love bashing the council and the EPA, anything government they love bashing. And I say, no, they’re doing all they can.
“The EPA just want to get everyone back to having a life.”
The EPA will be back in touch with residents to talk through any required actions once we receive the full draft report from the investigation.