ENVIRO FILL CONVICTED FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING SITES17 December 2010A waste disposal company has been convicted and fined $200,000 for a calculating and profit-driven business venture that saw the illegal dumping of industrial waste at two sites in the outer Melbourne suburb of Greenvale.
Enviro Fill Greenvale Pty Ltd, who failed to attend court, faced two charges of permitting the dumping of large volumes of waste following an EPA investigation of the company’s landfilling operations.
The Court heard the company did not clean up the site, instead voluntarily going into liquidation.
The company initially entered into an agreement to fill the Woodlands East and West Quarries for three years with clean fill material and a second site, the Mitchell Lasry Quarry, which is on Crown land.
Following undercover surveillance of both the quarries, EPA officers witnessed loaded trucks dumping stockpiles of material including soil and rocks, asbestos pieces, contaminated soil, bitumen, concrete and demolition waste.
The dump sites, which were legally allowed to receive ‘clean fill’ have never been licensed to accept industrial waste.
Daily load sheets from the company confirmed the company received fees for permitting trucks to enter the site and dump significant amounts of industrial waste.
Dumping of the waste took place over a two year period with up to 80 trucks per day arriving, six says a week.
EPA’s environmental director Chris Webb said the company’s conduct was disgraceful.
“Not only were the sites generating substantial revenue for the company, but landfill levies were not being paid, and the company was undercutting the fees of local, legitimate tip operators,” he said.
“No company has the right to walk away from environmental problems they create while also making a handsome profit for doing the wrong thing.
“EPA has this year committed a dedicated team to combat illegal dumping, which is a widespread problem. It’s important people are aware of the rules and understand that if you fail to conduct your business in the right way, there’s every chance you’ll get your date in court with EPA.”
EPA is currently looking at clean up options.
The company was also ordered to pay EPA’s costs of $59,000.
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