EPA probe into Territory Day tyre fire almost complete

Council has already been found to have breached "a number" of environmental laws by storing about 200 tonnes of old tyres in an unlicenced dump at the back of the showgrounds.

Most residents and the NT Environment Protection Authority only found out about the illegal dump on Territory Day last year when it went up in flames.

A pall of potentially toxic smoke drifted across Katherine South for days from the acrid fire as the free celebration events at the showgrounds were hurriedly moved.

The EPA has already asked the council to "show cause" why it should not be found in breach of a multitude of environmental laws.

If all the possible offences the EPA have listed are found to be proven the council could be liable for fines totalling $5.8 million.

It has already spent as much as $500,000 cleaning up the mess.

Council documents state the burning tyres "were covered with soil, though they continued to burn for the next four to five months".

That soil is also now contaminated and needs to be safely removed.

Council voted to send some of the contaminated soil to Darwin's waste facility late last year.

A note in tonight's council agenda says a "containment facility" has been opened at the town's rubbish tip to store at least some of the contaminated soil.

A fire swept through dry grass and shrub next to the busy Bicentennial road before reaching piles of discarded tyres, on July 1.

Council has been told the old tyres had been intended to form a fence.

The EPA this week said council had been kept informed on the progress of its investigation.

The authority said the investigation was likely to be completed in the next few months.

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