WOOLOMIN’S water woes continue as new test results confirm contamination of groundwater remains well above safe drinking levels, despite thousands of litres of water being pumped from affected bores.
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Tamworth Regional Council met again with residents on Friday night at a public meeting and reinforced the message not to drink from or use their bores under any circumstances.
The contamination was discovered two weeks ago after an underground petrol tank at the Woolomin Gold Rush Store was found to be leaking.
Last week, Tamworth Regional Council’s planning and compliance director Peter Thompson said the clean-up could continue into next year.
“Please don’t drink the bore water,” he told residents at Friday’s meeting.
“Don’t use the bore water. The results where contamination is present indicate the levels are well above those that are safe for drinking. While we are assisting with the emergency response, the co-operation of residents is crucial.”
Mr Thompson said the council had made the decision to manage the emergency response due to the unique situation the contamination posed to the Woolomin community, with no state government agency being directly responsible at this time.
Council has been consulting with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and other government departments though about the management of the crisis, and Robert O’Hern, head of the EPA’s regional operations unit, was present at Friday’s meeting to help with residents’ inquiries.
Emergency work continued last week to pump contaminated groundwater from bores, with about 100,000L extracted, and contractors also removed the two underground tanks from the store, one of which was found to have several holes.
The soil samples taken from the area found heavy contamination, with uncontaminated soil put in its place while work continues.
In the next three weeks, contractors will bring equipment in which will accurately measure the underground contamination, and monitoring bores will be placed at various locations around the plume site to continue to track and monitor the spread and levels of contamination.
The EPA has approved funding to assist in the next step of investigation.
Residents are reminded to contact the Woolomin Water Support Line on 0437 776 827 to arrange for an alternative water supply, order water or make any inquiries about the investigation.
