Having owned a home for 33 years in one of Lismore's lowest-lying areas, Marion Conrow is no stranger to floods.
But on February 28, 2022, when more than 14 metres of water inundated the Northern Rivers town, she was blindsided by the dark sticky oil that came with it.
Every surface and wall inside her raised hardwood home was marbled with a bitumen product.
"It's like a horror film," she said.
"Your eyes are watering [from] the fumes, from the bitumen, the kerosene and God knows what else from the bitumen spill."
Ms Conrow lives two doors down from an industrial depot owned by construction giant Boral.
The South Lismore site supplied bitumen and asphalt but was largely unused for the past two years.
Despite being in one of the city's flood-prone areas, several tanks remained on site.
As floodwater rushed in, the tanks were knocked over, spilling substances across neighbouring homes.
In the immediate aftermath, samples were taken from Ms Conrow's home to find out exactly what the substance was.
Preliminary results emailed to her on March 18 stated the "dominant compounds" were "kerosene, diesel and oil" and she should "avoid continuing to live at the premises".
She says Boral compensated her with a payment of $3,000, and then $350 a week for three months to cover rent. Marion moved to a friend's property where she says she has to walk 60 metres to get to amenities.
Boral's stakeholder manager Kate Woodbridge has apologised for the spill, and says the company is "committed to remediating any persons or businesses that have been impacted by residue from Boral during the flood event."
Ms Woodbridge says Boral has worked "every day since the event" to finalise "cleaning methodology" plans for affected properties, but weather and a shortage of tradespeople have contributed to delays.
While remediation has begun at some properties, Ms Conrow says she's still waiting for news on when her home will be cleaned — and whether the hydrocarbons on her walls pose a risk to her health.
"I don't really want much, I just want my life, I want my home, and I really need to come home and get my life back on track," she said.
Just one block away from Ms Conrow, Jack Bobbin's house and shed is marked with the same sticky residue.
The 82-year-old says he hasn't had any contact from Boral and has already started on the clean-up job.
Mr Bobbin believes that when the company stopped operations at their South Lismore depot, they should have removed the tanks containing product used to make roads.
"They didn't clean the site up. They should've checked it out before they left. It's obvious they didn't," he said.
Neighbour Geoff Davis, whose elderly mother's windows remain smeared with oil, feels the same.
"Take your stuff with you when you leave. Just don't leave it. Just don't leave it there and no one would have this problem," Mr Davis said.
Both Boral and Lismore City Council, as the regulatory authority, say the company followed all relevant regulations.
"We are able to store material at the site as part of our consent through council and as part of our development application, so any materials have been stored in an appropriate tank," Ms Woodbridge said.
Council chief executive officer John Walker could not clarify how regularly the site was inspected.
"Things will always go unnoticed," Mr Walker said.
"Whether they should or shouldn't, I guess what we found out in the fullness of time, but it's not our role to be policing people checking out every industrial property in the local government area to make sure everything is compliant."
Mr Walker says an investigation is underway and the council has received two letters from legal firms asking questions about the involvement of the various parties.
Boral has also confirmed they have recently made submissions to the council to remove the structures and equipment from the site.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says reports of the oil spill are "devastating" and that towns in the Northern Rivers need to be rebuilt in a "better way."
Mr Perrottet said he's "happy to look into" whether regulations around the location of construction sites in flood zones need to be changed.
"We want this to be a great town now, and into the future, and the best way of doing that [is] having the right regulation in place," he said.
While Ms Conrow waits for the ongoing investigation, she says she has no choice but to return to the site and live in a caravan.
"People have asked me, 'why are you going back there?' but where else am I going to go?," she said.
"There's absolutely nowhere around, I don't have enough money to pay rent anyway, and so a tiny caravan under the house is like my only option for now."
In a statement, the NSW Environment Protection Authority says they've assisted with the clean-up of three different spills of this nature resulting from recent floods.
