Ampol's Wickham fuel storage terminal's reputation as one of the Hunter's most toxic sites has been reinforced with the second extension of its contamination footprint in seven years.
The latest NSW Environment Protection Authority declaration further highlights the incompatibility of the fuel terminal, established almost a century ago, with the rapid transformation of surrounding communities.
Part of the terminal and an adjacent parcel of land at 33 Annie Street, which was partly occupied by the former Wickham Woolstores, were declared as significantly contaminated land under the Contaminated Land Management Act in 2016 and 2019.
EPA Executive Director Stephen Beaman said on Wednesday that the authority had issued a notice to extend the declaration to cover the whole terminal site after proactive investigations, instigated by the EPA's ongoing remediation work, found historical groundwater contamination across the site.
"We've been regulating and overseeing the clean-up of contamination at various locations at the terminal site and during this work we investigated the possibility of more widespread contamination of the site," he said.
The contamination is a result of historical spills that have occurred at the site over the past 70 years. Fuel related contamination includes petroleum hydrocarbons from products such petrol, diesel and jet fuel, which continue to be stored at the terminal.
Residents and businesses surrounding the depot were advised of the latest developments on Wednesday.
The EPA said investigations to date had not found any risk to residents living near the site.
"Extending the declaration means the EPA will oversee the management of contamination across the site and require Ampol to do further investigations and any additional remediation needed," a spokeswoman said.
The EPA said there was no evidence that hydrocarbon contamination was impacting Throsby Creek, which is about 50 metres from the site's eastern boundary.
"Groundwater contamination of this nature is slow moving and Ampol is constantly monitoring contamination through a network of wells located on the site," the spokeswoman said.
An Ampol spokesman said contamination was being managed through a remediation action plan.
Ampol is working with the NSW EPA to notify the community about this change and we will update local stakeholders as further works are delivered. This includes further investigative works by an independent environmental contractor, which will inform any required clean-up and remediation activities. An ongoing monitoring program will also be established to ensure there are no community impacts."
Sites that are declared 'significantly contaminated' require the person responsible for the contamination, or the landowner, to remediate the land so contaminating substances do not further harm the environment or human health.
In addition to dozens of former service stations, several former heavy industrial sites across the region have been remediated in recent decades. They include the former Newcastle Gasworks site at Hamilton North. Jemena completed an $11.5 million project to rehabilitate the site in 2021.
The Ampol terminal distributes fuel across northern NSW and is connected to the Sydney to Newcastle fuel pipeline.
Like the Orica ammonium plant on Kooragang Island, the terminal's location is a legacy of planning decisions made more than half a century ago.
The effectiveness of the plant's inbuilt sprinkler system helped prevent a potentially catastrophic event unfolding when two of the three nearby wool stores in Annie Street caught fire in March.
The event led to renewed calls for the terminal to be relocated away from the city.
They are backed by the state government's Draft Hunter Regional Plan 2041 that notes the legacy fuel storage and pipelines represent a significant constraint to the urban densification of Wickham.
However, Ampol maintains that it is not feasible to relocate millions of dollars worth of infrastructure to an alternative location such as the Mayfield ports precinct.
