New England police investigate theft after Hazmat crews mop up oil spill in Byron Street in Inverell

A major clean-up mission has wrapped up after firefighters managed to stop the oil from spilling into Inverell's Macintyre River.

Firefighters said they averted a potential environmental disaster after quick-thinking crews were swiftly on site and managed to block the storm drain about 1km away from the business at the river.

The incident unfolded shortly before 8:30am on Wednesday when the theft and spill was discovered at the back of a Byron Street business.

It's understood thieves drained the shuttle of sump oil, and then stole the storage container, which are worth thousands of dollars.

After draining the shuttle, the oil spilled onto the ground and run off entered the storm drains.

Fire and Rescue NSW Inspector Wayne Zikan said it was a race against time, initially.

"A fair amount got into the storm water drain," he said.

"So it was a matter of doing the hard yards ... getting ahead of the drains, blocking that, and managing it from there."

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Hazmat crews from Tamworth and Glen Innes were deployed to Inverell to back up firefighters, delivering extra booms and pillows to contain the spill. Inverell council were also called to help crews block the drains.

"It was a slow process ... using the booms and absorbent pillows," Inspector Zikan said. "We spent a few hours and got as much oil out of the water as we could."

Ten firefighters managed to contain then mop up the spill, declaring the area safe about 3pm on Wednesday.

Inspector Zikan said the end result meant "we managed to keep the oil in the drain".

The Leader has been told police are now trying to home into who was behind the theft.

It's understood officers will review the town's CCTV network as they try to find any suspicious vehicles that were in the area, or suspicious activity around the business overnight on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning.

When contacted New England police said they were unable to comment on the investigation but confirmed they were looking into the circumstances of the spill.

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