THE Millicent skatepark has been closed until further notice after vandals spilled used oil over the recreational facility over the weekend.
Sometime overnight between Friday and Saturday, perpetrators poured black oil throughout the purpose-built Ridge Terrace facility.
Wattle Range Council engineering services director Peter Halton said the repair bill was estimated to be in excess of $1000.
“The clean-up cost will be over $1000, but it will more likely be between $1000 to $2000 by the time we include the materials and time it will take,” he said.
“The clean-up process from here is leaving kitty litter on the surface to soak up as much material as we can and then using degreasers to get the rest of the oil off.
“We hope it hasn’t actually soaked into the concrete because that will cause major problems.”
Mr Halton said oil was poured throughout the facility, including the grind rails, mini ramp and the open bowl.
“We’re assuming it is a kind of engine oil as it was a very dark oil,” he said.
“It’s certainly not clean looking and it looks as if it has been used on something, but where they got it and the reason behind it are unknown.
“There was a fair bit of oil and I suspect it was from a filled four litre container.
“It is pretty messy and unfortunately because it is an old oil, it is probably going to stain the cement.
“We have got staff working on cleaning it at the moment, but the skatepark is closed because it is unsafe to use.”
Mr Halton urged individuals with information about the incident to contact council or the police.
“We hope someone witnessed the behaviour and is willing to identify the perpetrators,” he said.
“Certainly if we find who did it, we will be referring council’s costs to them.”
