Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has fined Viva Energy Australia $7,381 for breaching its licence limits on sulfur dioxide emissions at its Geelong refinery.
The fine comes as EPA prepares to undertake an environmental management and compliance assessment of Viva’s Geelong refinery as part of its Major Industries program.
Following this assessment, EPA will require Viva to undertake any works or actions to avoid the reoccurrence of these events.
EPA South West Manager Eve Graham said the breach occurred on 28 May this year after a sulfur dioxide discharge exceeded its 12,900 grams per minute licence limit.
Ms Graham said the exceedance occurred over four hours, resulting in a visible plume coming from the site.
At the time, EPA advised that it would analyse the data provided by Viva and hold it to account for its environmental obligations. EPA has subsequently fined Viva $7,381 for the licence breach, which is in contravention of section 27(2) of the Environment Protection Act 1970.
“EPA is charged with protecting Victoria’s environment against potential environmental risks, including those posed by major industry,” Ms Graham said.
“This was the third time since February 2015 that Viva had exceeded its sulfur dioxide emissions.
“EPA issued official warnings for these breaches, which occurred on 8 February and 19 March 2015.
“The breaches were for exceedances of sulfur dioxide discharge points on specific pieces of equipment however the overall site limit of sulfur dioxide was not exceeded,” she said.
Ms Graham said Viva had also received two official warnings for not immediately notifying EPA of a chemical spill incident that occurred at its site on two separate occasions in August last year.
“These official warnings are in addition to a Pollution Abatement Notice (PAN) EPA issued in relation to the incident which required Viva to install controls so that leaks or spills are prevented from leaving the premises. This PAN has since been complied with and the notice has been revoked,” Ms Graham said.
“Businesses that fail to operate within their limits must be held to account to ensure the community is not impacted by environmental pollution.”
EPA’s Major Industries program aims to ensure Victoria’s largest and most complex industrial facilities have identified their potential environmental risks and have implemented controls to manage them.