Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has fined a Broadmeadows company more than $7,500 for failing to reduce a tyre stockpile at its site in Maygar Boulevard.
EPA Metro Manager Daniel Hunt said that Tyre Crumb was the site of a significant fire earlier this year and EPA would continue to use its powers to ensure it was no longer an environmental hazard for the local community.
“It is an offence to store more than the equivalent of 5,000 standard car tyres at a site without an EPA licence to do so. Tyre crumb has the equivalent of about 25,000 tyres, which shows absolute disregard for environmental laws,” Mr Hunt said.
“Given the premises was the scene of a major fire earlier this year, Tyre Crumb’s application to store more than 5,000 tyres was declined by the EPA and a notice issued to the company requiring it to reduce and separate its stockpile to ensure community safety; the notice has been totally ignored.”
Mr Hunt said that EPA had now fined the company and was looking at other possible sanctions under the Environment Protection Act 1970.
“Anyone who illegally stockpiles tyres can face a fine of up to $758,350 if prosecuted before the courts,” Mr Hunt said.
Mr Hunt said that by storing more than 5,000 tyres at its site, the company was in breach of EPA tyre regulations that came into force in 2015.
“EPA has these regulations in place to ensure the Victorian public is better protected from the risk of tyre fires from unsafe stockpiles of waste tyres. The regulations require premises that store more than 40 tonnes or 5,000 waste tyres to obtain a works approval and a licence from EPA,” Mr Hunt said.
“Tyre fires can cause significant pollution of the atmosphere and are incredibly difficult to put out, as was the case when the stockpile at the Tyre Crumb site caught fire in January this year.”
To view EPA tyre regulations, please visit:
- http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/business-and-industry/guidelines/waste-guidance/storage-of-waste-tyres-in-victoria
- http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/our-work/setting-standards/waste-tyre-storage-ris