Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) conducted testing of the Latrobe River following a trade waste spill on 28 June 2015 from Australian Paper’s Maryvale Mill in Gippsland. Interim results from these tests show that there has been no detectable environmental impact on the river.
EPA will communicate the final results to the community as soon as they are available, which is anticipated to be within the next two weeks.
EPA’s investigation has now turned to whether the trade waste spill has breached any of Australian Paper’s licence conditions or caused any environmental harm to a local billabong system where the majority of the liquid from the spill was contained.
An estimated 30,000 litres (30 cubic metres) flowed into the Latrobe River. The remaining liquid in the billabong system was pumped back into Australian Paper’s treatment lagoons.