Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has issued Australian Paper with a penalty infringement notice following a spill of liquid from a trade waste system at its Maryvale Mill in Gippsland last year.
EPA Gippsland Regional Manager Emily Sanders said the company had been fined over $7000 after an EPA investigation found the company had breached its licence conditions, an offence under Section 27(2) of the Environment Protection Act 1970.
“The spill was trade waste produced as part of the paper making process and was the result of a break in a section of a fibreglass pipeline,” Ms Sanders said.
“The majority of the spill was contained in a billabong system and it is estimated that about 30,000 litres flowed into the Latrobe River before the discharge was stopped. Due to high flow rates within the Latrobe River at the time of the spill any environmental impact would have been negligible.
“However, the spill was clearly outside the parameters of the company’s licence and that is why EPA has acted under its Compliance and Enforcement Policy and fined the company over $7,000.
“The remainder of the spill was pumped from the billabong system to onsite treatment lagoons which are licenced to then discharge wastewater to the Latrobe River after it is treated.”
Monitoring since the spill had shown that the billabong system had returned to within Victorian water quality parameters and any environmental impacts would have been of short duration.
Ms Sanders said the action against Australian Paper should serve as a reminder to industry that there are clear rules and requirements set out under EPA licenses that must be adhered to at all times.