A suspected fuel leak has come to the attention of authorities after residents of The Wharf apartments in Narooma reported a petrol odour in the building last Thursday.
Inspections by NSW Fire and Rescue revealed fuel seeping through the concrete walls of an elevator shaft in one of the apartment buildings.
Eurobodalla Council has since been working with the NSW Environment Protection Authority and the nearby petrol station to investigate the potential source of the fuel.
Multiple inspections by Council staff have not identified further signs of fuel in the surrounding environment, including water and sewer systems.
Residents of the affected apartments have been relocated for now.
Eurobodalla Council has issued a ‘prevention notice’ to the owners of the fuel station under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1977. It requires that fuel deliveries immediately cease, and any remaining fuel be removed from all underground storage tanks.
The owners are also required to engage qualified investigators within seven days to report on the integrity of the tanks, along with any contamination caused and remediation required.
A spokesperson for Council said the owners had been cooperative to date.
