A Surrey Hills company has been fined more than $7500 for allowing turbid waste water to be discharged from a Carlton North construction site and into a nearby stormwater drain.
Following a report from the community, EPA officers attended the Rathdowne Street site, which was being operated by Caribbean Homes Pty Ltd, on 2 May 2016 to find sediment laden waters being discharged from the premises and into a street gutter using a PVC pipe.
Water samples taken from the discharge pipe entering the gutter by EPA officers found turbidity readings – a measure of water clarity – was more than 40 times above the accepted level.
EPA Acting Metropolitan Manager, Danny Childs, said dumping industrial waste such as sediment laden waters at a site not licensed to accept it was an offence under the Environment Protection Act 1970 and the company was subsequently fined $7584.
“We need to be mindful that what’s discharged into the stormwater system ends up in our waterways and if polluted has the potential to impact on our aquatic environment in the creeks, rivers and ultimately the ocean,” he said.
“Duty holders need to be well aware of their environmental obligations as well as how their operations can have a direct impact on the environment.”
“EPA has an expectation that appropriate planning is carried out at such construction sites prior to work commencing to identify the activities that pose a risk to the environment and install the most appropriate controls to minimise and manage these risks.”
“In this particular case, the operators should have had the controls in place to prevent stormwater coming in contact with the excavated soils.
“In any case where this is unavoidable, infrastructure should have been installed to treat the turbid waters down to acceptable levels prior to discharging offsite or alternatively pumped from the premises using a suitable contractor.”
For further information on environmental guidelines for constructions sites, please visit: www.epa.vic.gov.au or visit:
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/business-and-industry/guidelines/water-guidance/building-sites-and-stormwater