It is believed the chemicals were taken off a truck parked on the same street overnight and were deliberately spilled onto the road, footpath and another truck nearby.

Fire and Rescue Zone Commander Tom Cooper told The Namoi Valley Independent at the scene the chemicals had not impacted on the environment. 

“The pesticide in question is probably more harmful to the environment than it is to humans,” Commander Cooper said.

“Luckily as far as we know no people have come in contact with the chemical, and due to the quick work of our crews the chemical hasn’t affected the environment.”

Crews were first called to the scene about 7.15am on Thursday and have been working to contain and clean up the spill throughout the day.

“We suspect that someone has taken the drum of what we believe to be pesticide and tipped it along the road and on the back of the nearby truck,” Commander Cooper said.

“In terms of cleaning it up, we are basically using an absorbent which is soaking what’s left of the liquid up.

“Some parts of it that were tipped on the truck have dried and have become more like paint and the way that we deal with it is take it to a waste management facility and dispose of it as best we can within the EPA guidelines.”

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Gunnedah Fire and Rescue Captain Dave Welch said crews would be dealing with the clean up for the much of the day. “I think we will be here a while,” Captain Welch said.

“We have had the 452 hazmat crew come over from Tamworth to assist in the clean up, being the specialists in this field they have come over to give us a hand.

“Hazmat incidents are always done carefully and properly which sometimes can take a while, but at this stage we have it under control.”

Police are  investigating the incident which they believe occurred in the early hours of Thursday.

Officers are reviewing CCTV footage from nearby businesses. Anyone with information is urged to contact police.