Orange City Council crews were quick to respond to an environmental incident on the weekend after a power pole came down in the Barretts Industrial Estate. The incident polluted around 850 metres of stormwater channel and around 300 metres of Blackmans Swamp Creek.
It’s believed the power pole and a transformer came down at around 8.45 on Saturday morning.
While Essential Energy crews dealt with the high voltage wires and replaced the pole to restore electricity supplies to residents, Council crews were quick to respond to the environmental impact of oil which leaked from the damaged transformer.
The large-scale transformer contained around 600 litres of transformer oil which ran down a nearby stormwater drain and into Blackmans Swamp Creek.
Council staff found the oil had entered the creek near Elephant Park. Crews blocked the flow of the oil in the creek by adding a gravel barrier and special pollution booms. The gravel dam stopped a lot of the oil just near the pipe discharge in the creek.
Council also called on local liquid waste experts (Polpure) to deliver special hydrocarbon absorbing material which was spread into the creek less than an hour after it was found. The absorber is made of coconut husk which sucks up the oil and can be later scooped out as solid waste.
On Sunday crews also added extra booms upstream and downstream to catch any further material and added absorber in those areas to catch any stray oil.
Crews are removing the absorbent material from the creek today
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