Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has fined a Point Cook man $1,934 over the illegal dumping of a truckload of brown slurry on someone else’s land.
EPA Metro Region Manager Daniel Hunt said a member of the public spotted a truck dumping the muddy load on a block in a Point Cook housing development, in the early hours of 19 September 2018.
“The witness noted the truck’s registration number and called EPA. It made all the difference, we were able to trace the truck and contact the owner with comparative ease,” Mr Hunt said.
EPA officers took samples of the slurry and contacted the owner of the truck, who told them the dumping was an accident and the employee responsible no longer works for him.
Testing of the slurry and the soil on the block revealed no contaminants.
“A load of slurry might not seem to be much of an environmental threat, but it is industrial waste, the site is someone’s block in a housing estate, and the danger with unlicensed dumping is that it could contain just about anything,” Mr Hunt said.
“Even a load of mud could affect fish and other aquatic life if it is washed into a storm drain and from there into a local creek.”
There was no arrangement with the owner of the land, and no licence for waste to be accepted on that land.
EPA is considering requiring the owner of the truck to remove the slurry and clean up the site.
Under the Environment Protection Act 1970 and the Infringements Act 2008, the man has the right to have the decision to issue the infringement notice reviewed or alternatively to have the matter heard and determined by a court.
Members of the public can report pollution on the EPA 24 hour hotline, by dialing 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842).