COMPANY FINED $10,000 FOR DUMPING INDUSTRIAL WASTE

14 June 2000

An Environment Protection Authority blitz on illegal waste dumps led to Boral Resources (Vic) Pty. Limited being fined $10,000 without conviction in the Sunshine Magistrates Court yesterday.

A special EPA illegal dumps taskforce inspected land behind three companies, including Boral Resources (Vic) Pty. Limited, in Ballarat Rd, Sunshine, on 21 June 1999 and found an area of land had been raised by about 1.5 metres.

An excavation of the area revealed an illegal dump containing concrete, building rubble, chemical drums and concrete reinforcing rods. The dump was partly covered by concrete slurry, later identified as washings from trucks contracted or owned by Boral.

Boral Resources (Vic) Pty. Limited pleaded guilty to a charge of dumping industrial waste, a breach of the Environment Protection Act 1970.

The illegal dumps taskforce has identified about 140 sites around Melbourne, some of which had tens of thousands of cubic metres of dumped waste.

EPA Chairman Dr Brian Robinson said illegal dumps posed enormous environmental problems and companies had no excuse for not disposing of waste correctly.

“The laws governing illegal dumps are explicit and companies should know better than to dump waste irresponsibly,” he said.

“They are not only a direct threat to the environment, they are a threat to the viability of responsible businesses.

“Victoria has a very strict regulatory regime governing the disposal of industrial waste. Under the Environment Protection Act all industrial waste must be treated and disposed of only in licensed facilities. A small handful of people continue to buck the system at the expense of those businesses set up to provide a legitimate waste management service thereby protecting our environment.

“EPA is determined to ensure that companies doing the wrong thing take responsibility for their actions.

“It is not good enough for companies to simply pay for the clean-up costs, they must also be made accountable for the environmental damage of their illegal activities.

“This prosecution is the taskforce’s second legal victory and there will be many more cases brought before court in the coming months.”

Westkon Precast Concrete Pty Ltd and Minesco Pty Ltd, the two companies neighbouring Boral Resources (Vic) Pty. Limited in Sunshine, were also fined $10,000 each in the Sunshine Magistrates Court in February for illegally dumping industrial waste.

In addition to the $10,000 fine, Magistrate Anne Goldsbrough ordered Boral Resources (Vic) Pty. Limited to pay costs to EPA of $9011.