The resident, who asked not to be named, said the mysterious oil slick on an unsealed section of Jackson Rd, North Otago, had been on the road for close to a month, along the entrance to a mixture of residential and lifestyle properties.
The 300m-long patch of oil — which the resident believed was an "oil spill" — was dangerous, they said.
"... When it was pouring with rain about a week ago it was just coming in and there was a big puddle of oil right underneath my gate post there.
"I had to put my dogs away for two days because of the f...... spill.
"It was really bad, predominantly on the upper end of Jackson Rd near the highway. There was quite a bit of oil on the tarseal, it was all out on the main road and trucks were obviously just carting it out there.
"My biggest concern is that if someone comes down here and wasn’t aware, especially in the wet, and ... they skidded on to the road and got T-boned, it could just be catastrophic," they said.
The matter had been raised with the Waitaki District Council, the Otago Regional Council and police.
"Photos were sent in and no-one seems to care. Nothing has been done about it," they said.
Otago Regional Council investigation team leader Peter Kelliher said an officer was sent last week to inspect the spill.
"The officer considered the presence of the oil on the road, however, to be a safety concern.
"Accordingly, we referred the matter to the Waitaki District Council, as the road controlling authority responsible for the safe management of district roads," Mr Kelliher said.
Waitaki District Council network manager Erik van der Spek said the oil in Jackson Rd had been reported to council and staff were investigating its source.
"It appears ... an individual or group may have oiled the road intentionally to prevent dust kickup," Mr van der Spek said.
Road users should drive to the conditions, but take care on this section until it could be remediated, Mr van der Spek said.
The council would be doing a letter drop to all residents highlighting the oil will need to be cleaned up and to contact the council with any information about the incident, he said.
Sergeant Blair Wilkinson, of Oamaru, said the oil was reported to police on January 24 and was still under investigation.
