A Cowra resident was driving by the entrance to the saleyards at around 9am, when he says he saw a council truck, a bob cat and another vehicle pulled up.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, has told The Guardian he saw workers emptying a material from the truck into a hole and then burying it.

“I stopped and filmed what was happening, I also took photos,” he said.

The man, who has described the incident as an ‘absolute disgrace’ said the material was black and smelled like diesel.

“The truck took about eight minutes to empty, there would have been at least 200 litres of it.”

The witness also claimed he overheard the workers discussing what was taking place.

“They were saying it was illegal and they shouldn’t be doing it.”

The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), formerly the EPA, was notified and has confirmed it is looking into the matter.

The Cowra Shire Council was also alerted and the Director of Infrastructure and Operations immediately inspected the site.

“The material of concern was a mixture of emulsion and cleaning agents from a tar patching truck, which was blocking the spray nozzle,” according to a council spokesperson.

“It has since been taken to landfill.”

The council has explained the situation to the OEH and has committed to discharging the material directly to the landfill site in future.