The EPA has ordered Lismore City Council to investigate possible further toxic contamination around where a landslip occurred in Beardow St, Lismore Heights, in 2017.

The council is currently remediating the road after removing an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 cubic metres of contaminated material which ended up on a neighbouring property during the landslip.

An EPA spokesperson said in a statement that the Preliminary Investigation Order issued on Monday required the council to carry out contamination investigations on the Beardow Street road reserve.

“The EPA wants to determine if waste material extends beyond the area of the landslip to other areas of the road reserve,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“Council will have 90 days to provide a contamination report to the EPA to help understand the extent of the contamination and what next steps may be required.

“There are no known health issues for residents near the road reserve.”

Based on the hazardous materials found in the landslip, the EPA suspects the road reserve may also be contaminated with unsafe levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, asbestos and total petroleum hydrocarbons.

The landslip initially occurred in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie in 2017, which caused major flooding in Lismore.

According to the EPA’s Preliminary Investigation Order - which was provided to the Lismore App by the council - the council’s excavation works at the landslip site uncovered the historical industrial waste materials.

“Council were not previously aware of the presence of contamination at the specified land,” the EPA’s document says.

“The materials encountered have been described as fill materials containing a high percentage of anthropogenic inclusions such as wire, plastic, glass, industrial waste materials (coke/slag), bitumen and bonded ACM [asbestos containing materials] (in selected places).”

The order says the EPA was notified about the contaminated material in October last year and while the land subject to the landslip had been investigated, there remained areas of the road reserve that had not.

“The presence and extent of historical industrial waste materials to the specified land is therefore unknown,” it says.

The order requires the council to engage a qualified contaminated land consultant to report on:

• The nature and extent of the contamination in soil at the specified land;
• The origins of the waste materials at the specified land; and
• Identify any human or environmental health risks from the presence of contamination at the specified land.

The consultant’s report must be submitted back to the EPA by November 4.

The owner of the neighbouring land, Ken Allport, has previously said he planned to sell it for residential development.

However, the according to the NSW Department of Planning website it is considered “Landslide Risk Land”.

"Any future landslides could therefore expose any further historical industrial waste materials that may be present within the specified land," the order says.

A statement from the council said the matter would be investigated in accordance with the EPA’s order.

“Council cannot comment further at this stage until the contamination report is completed,” the council said.