Petrol station operator ordered to pay $9 million over fuel contamination on Central Coast
Bruce Johnson has been awarded damages after petrol leached onto his Central Coast property. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)
In short:
NSW Supreme Court awards a Central Coast landowner more than $9 million after petroleum and diesel from a neighbouring service station contaminates his property.
The site near Wyong was declared "significantly contaminated" in 2018 but has not been completely remediated.
What's next?
The environmental watchdog is being urged to force the operator to take urgent action to remediate the entire site.
A New South Wales Central Coast landowner has been awarded more than $9 million in damages after his property was contaminated by fuel leaking from a neighbouring petrol station.
Bruce Johnson took the owners of the Kanwal business to the Supreme Court of NSW after petrol leached from the service station's underground fuel tanks onto his land.
On Wednesday, the court ruled in favour of Mr Johnson's company Seaforth Securities and awarded damages.
"Justice has been done after eight years," he said.
"It was a huge win, [but] unfortunately the company that has been found guilty has gone into liquidation and has no funds.
"We're looking into it at the moment, through our barristers, to see what the next step is, if there is one," he said.
Mr Johnson, who owns a 2.4-hectare property next door to the service station, said he discovered his land was contaminated when he tried to sell it in 2016.
He said the sale fell through after the interested party "did some work and found out it was contaminated with petroleum and diesel".
Bruce Johnson estimates he's spent more than $1 million monitoring and tracking the alleged contamination. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)
In 2018, the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) determined the soil and groundwater beneath the site was "significantly contaminated" and could potentially impact human health and the surrounding environment.
Four years later, service station owner Zoya Investments was fined $320,000 for failing to rehabilitate the property.
The ABC understands the station operator failed to pay the fine, which was issued by the Land and Environment Court after the EPA successfully prosecuted the company in 2022.
Documents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) show the company that owned the site, Zoya Investments, went into liquidation in April this year and its assets were transferred to a new entity with the same directors, shareholders and registered office.
Mr Harris said he was concerned by the move.
"People can't just try to avoid their responsibilities by shutting down one name and setting up another one and continue to do what they're not supposed to do," he said.
The EPA says it is unaware of any "ongoing or new leaks". (ABC News: Shauna Foley)
EPA response
The EPA's guidelines for service station sites acknowledge they make up the single largest sector of contaminated sites in the state.
But in a statement, the EPA said in this case it was unaware of any "ongoing or new leaks".
A spokesperson said interim remediation work to reduce further pollution affecting neighbouring properties was completed earlier this year.
They added there was no evidence the nearby Tuggerah Lakes or Porters Creek were affected, but did not rule out further monitoring.
However, Mr Johnson has written to the EPA, urging it to "take decisive action to have the service station property remediated promptly".
"If the pollution had been asbestos … the contamination would have been cleaned up by now," he said.
The EPA said additional regulatory action was being considered to ensure the remediation work began as soon as possible.
The ABC has contacted the service station operator for comment.
The EPA declared the Kanwal petrol station "significantly contaminated" six years ago. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)
Call for closure
Meanwhile, there are calls for the petrol station on Craigie Avenue at Kanwal to be shut down, at least temporarily.
State Minister for the Central Coast David Harris raised concerns about the situation in parliament last week.
He said after an order was issued to the business, it delayed taking action to address the pollution.
"They failed to do so for 675 days, and it was estimated that … 3,000 litres of petrol could have leaked from these underground storage tanks," Mr Harris said.
"We have to know there is no more leakage and have an absolute guarantee," he said.
Data from released by the EPA shows high concentrations of benzene on the property. (Supplied: Bruce Johnson.)
Mr Johnson said he had already spent more than $1.3 million trying to monitor and treat the contamination on his own land.
"There are 28 boreholes done, and they're being investigated by our consultant every three months," he said.
Consultants Trace Environmental started mapping the area in 2022, with the latest update done in April this year.
Trace director Andrew Kita said the company deployed a range of techniques to remediate the land, including the use of naturally occurring bacteria from America.
He said the injected bacteria could effectively eat the contaminants and was quicker and less disruptive than traditional remediation like excavation.
"It essentially halts the continued migration and breaks these hydrocarbons down very rapidly," Mr Kita said.