The developer of a Helensburgh property, which has come under scrutiny due to contamination and health concerns, has agreed to stop work on the site until a multi-level government investigation is complete.
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Helensburgh residents raised the alarm about the site in late February, after smelling a “putrid odour” emanating from the property following excavations for a new townhouse complex.
Wollongong council, along with the NSW Environment Protection Agency and NSW Health, have been involved in the investigation, which was escalated after residents living near the property raised fears about their health.
In an update sent to residents on Thursday, Wollongong City Council said the developer at 98A Parkes Street was planning to undertake sediment and erosion control works along the site boundary on Friday.
After that work is complete, the developer has “agreed to cease work until this matter is resolved”.
The council also said soil taken out of the site had been located by the EPA.
“We understand that the material has been located, that it has not been distributed to other locations and that the EPA has conducted sampling of this soil as well,” the council said.
The council revealed it would undertake its own independent tests on soil from the site, in addition to tests it had already ordered from the developer.
There is no suggestion by the Mercury that the current developer is responsible for the contamination.
The council said files indicated a previous property owner “applied a substance known as ‘mono chlor xylenol’ to fence posts associated with the animal closure at the premises”.
The council will test for this substance and well as other chemical compounds including phenols and BTEX – which the NSW government says can “have adverse effects on human health”.
Residents who live on Parkes Street and Cowper Lane say they believe there is a high rate of cancer and benign tumour diagnoses in the area and say the smell – which had been likened to Dettol – emanating from the development site is “causing headaches runny noses and coughs’’.
Soil testing results, as well as a review of the council’s records, are expected to be made available in about four weeks.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
