By Benjamin Millar
The state’s tax payers are likely to foot the multimillion dollar clean-up bill for the of the site of the 2018 Tottenham chemical fire after a court ruled the site’s owner was uninsured at the time of the blaze.
The warehouse where illegally dumped chemicals fuelled Melbourne’s biggest industrial blaze in almost 30 years is owned by Danbol Pty Ltd, whose sole director and shareholder is accountant Christopher James Baldwin.
A 12-month insurance policy covering the site expired on August 24, 2018, less than a week before the suspicious fire erupted and spewed clouds of toxic smoke across the western suburbs.
Police arson investigators have been looking into the cause of the blaze and a coronial investigation into the fire is also continuing, after it was deemed suspicious by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade.
Representatives of Danbol and insurance company Swiss Re International traded a series of emails in the days ahead of the fire, discussing whether a new policy could be offered to cover the warehouse due to a change of use from timber recycling to empty gas canister storage.
Swiss Re International had initially offered a 14-day extension of cover, but in a decision handed down earlier this month, supreme court Justice Peter Riordan ruled that Danbol had failed to take the necessary steps to prove it held a binding contract with the insurer.
The court hear that a final email accepting the 14-day policy extension was sent just hours after the blaze broke out at 5am on August 30.
Danbol’s lawyers attempted to argue that the company had earlier “implicitly accepted” the policy extension until September 7, but Justice Riordan found the company had failed to take adequate steps to commit to a $3506 premium payment to take up the offer.
WorkSafe last year took control of the site, where up to 10 million litres of chemicals that escaped the fire still remains.
While the clean-up has been estimated as likely to cost between $15 and $35 million, a government spokeswoman said the final cost is yet to be determined.
“WorkSafe can still seek to recover costs incurred during clean up using powers under the Dangerous Goods Act 1985,” she said.
Preparations for the clean-up are continuing, with a call for tenders closing on February 27.
Security, air monitoring and stormwater containment remains in place at the site.
