By Alesha Capone
An Altona North company has been fined more than $8000 for dumping construction and demolition waste, which included asbestos, in Werribee.
Environment Protection Authority Victoria regional manager for the metropolitan region, Jeremy Settle, said that a truckload of waste was dumped near Wests Road, just 500 metres from the Werribee tip, in November last year.
“EPA has issued demolition contractor MASA Group Pty Ltd with a $8060 fine for permitting the depositing of industrial waste in contravention of Section 27A(2)(a) of the Environment Protection Act 1970,” Mr Settle said.
“We were able to trace the origin of some of the materials left at the dump site, and made use of CCTV video from the nearby Wyndham landfill.”
Mr Settle said the CCTV showed a “suspect truck driving past the landfill in the direction of the illegal dump site, late on the day before the dumped material was discovered”.
He said the investigation followed a trail through several companies and contractors, to the demolition contractor, and eventually discovered that the waste had come from the demolition of a house at South Kingsville.
Wyndham council’s director of city operations, Stephen Thorpe, said dumping of rubbish was never acceptable.
“At Wyndham City, we are doing all we can to put an end to illegal rubbish dumping. We work hard to educate our community on the consequences of littering and dumping, but at times, we also need to prosecute,” Mr Thorpe said.
“This case sends a strong message that illegal dumping will never be tolerated, and there are very real consequences for doing so.”
Under the Environment Protection Act and the Infringements Act, MASA Group Pty Ltd has the right to have the decision to issue the infringement notice reviewed or alternatively to have the matter heard and determined by a court.
Members of the public can report illegal dumping and other types of pollution by calling EPA’s 24 hour hotline on 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842).
