State Government of Victoria

In line with its Compliance and Enforcement Policy, EPA Victoria last month took enforcement action by issuing sanctions or ‘penalties’ to seven companies and individuals across the State.

Sanctions are issued by EPA for incidents which have either posed a risk to the environment or community or to parties who have a history of creating environmental harm. They act as a deterrent against repeat offending, and are a reminder to business owners and individuals of their environmental responsibilities.

Sanctions range from an official warning or penalty infringement notice ($1,690 for an individual, $7042 for a company) to a licence/permit suspension, enforceable undertaking, prosecution or even a permit revocation for the worst offenders.

March sanctions

	Business/Individual	Location	Date of incident	Sanction	Environmental incident
North East
	Danone Murray Goulburn Pty Ltd	Wangaratta	September 2012	Official Warning	Approximately 3000 litres of water contaminated with waste product from the Danone yoghurt plant was removed from Finns Creek after a Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Ltd tanker overflowed.
	Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Ltd	Wangaratta	September 2012	Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN)	Provided the tanker to Danone Murray Goulburn Pty Ltd for waste water removal, which subsequently overflowed into Finns Creek. As a licence holder, Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Ltd has an obligation to ensure any waste from the premises is discharged according to their licence agreement.
	Strathbogie Shire Council	Eurora	October/ November 2012	Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN)	Off site effluent discharged into stormwater drain and neighboring private property.
	Individual sanction*	Cobram	October 2012	Official Warning	Burning trees on property without a permit.
Metro Melbourne
	Norstar Recycling Pty Ltd	Laverton North	September 2012	Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN)	Traces of petroleum hydrocarbons found in dam at rear of premises. Obvious poor management of triple interceptor waste occurring for some time.
	Advanced Moulds Pty Ltd	Bayswater	November 2012	Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN)	Discharge of diluted white adhesive liquid into stormwater drain.
	Resolve Waste Management P/L	Campbellfield	October 2012	Official Warning	Environmental site requirements not complied with, including lack of bunding controls.

*individual name withheld due to privacy laws.

Those issued with a PIN have 28 days to pay the fine. Alternatively, they can apply for an internal review or have the matter dealt with in court.