By Goya Dmytryshchak
A Victorian transport company has been fined for illegally storing toxic hospital waste used in cancer treatment at its Altona depot.
Environment Protection Authority officers uncovered two shipping containers of waste at Melbourne Container Transport’s Kororoit Creek Road premises.
The company was fined more than $8000 for depositing industrial waste at a site not licensed to accept it.
EPA western metropolitan regional manager Stephen Lansdell said the containers had been sitting there for more than two weeks.
“Inside, they found plastic-wrapped pallet loads of cardboard boxes and plastic containers carrying surgical masks, gowns, gloves and other items used by doctors when applying cytotoxic chemicals used in some cancer treatments,” he said.
“While it was resolved without any hazard to people’s health, a case like this is disappointing because businesses have a clear responsibility to know the rules and do the right thing by the environment and the community.
The containers’ contents have been incinerated by a licensed company.
Melbourne Container Transport was contacted for comment.
