In a plant manufacturing wood chairs, a leak occurred around 4 am on the domestic fuel oil hose supplying the burner of a boiler. A pump was feeding the fuel oil circuit continuously from an underground tank, with any excess returning to the tank. The incident was observed by a technician during a restart operation on the boiler after 10 hours of down time. The leak flow rate, estimated by the operator at 1 litre/min, thus led to a maximum discharge of 600 litres. Although most of the product had been held in the site’s retention basin, a portion was ejected above the retention wall, entered the stormwater network and flowed into the Louts River, on which a thin layer of hydrocarbons measuring a few m² could be observed. The operator scoured the site’s stormwater pipes, recovering 700 litres of product diluted at 90%; a specialised subcontractor was called in to clean the surface of the Louts. The Classified Facilities Inspectorate recorded these findings and proposed that the Prefect order the operator to conduct a pressure test of the underground tanks. An appraisal of the rubber hose (1.20 m long by 6 mm diameter) revealed that the external metal braid protecting the hose was cracked and rotted by corrosion; according to the Classified Facilities inspector, this hose could have been dragged along the ground under humid conditions.