The County Court has fined a Plumpton man and ordered him to undertake an expensive clean-up of industrial waste, on a charge of failing to comply with two clean-up notices from Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA).
The court convicted Mendo Kitanovski, fined him $3,500, and ordered him to clean-up his property pursuant to section 64 of the Environment Protection Act.
EPA Executive Director Lara Jimenez said it has been a complex and long running case.
“This is a good outcome; it upholds EPA’s original requirement that Mr Kitanovski clean up the property, and while the fine may be comparatively small, the cost of dealing with the dumped waste may be considerable,” Ms Jimenez said.
“As with any case, EPA’s primary objective has been to have the site cleaned up, for the protection of the community and the environment,” she said.
EPA found a large number of piles of soil on Mr Kitanovski’s property in 2012 and 2013, and site inspections revealed that those piles contained industrial waste such as brick, tile, piping, asphalt and plastic. Officers observing the property in 2012 saw 30 large trucks enter and leave the property in a single day.
EPA served two official Clean Up Notices (CUNs) on Mr Kitanovski in 2013 which required the removal of the industrial waste, but he failed to comply with either notice.
The financial penalty for a failure to comply with the order made by the County Court under section 64 of the Environment Protection Act is up to $48,357 for each day of non-compliance.
“This is a reminder to anyone who is issued with an official clean-up notice or pollution abatement notice by EPA that those notices are to be taken seriously and there are serious consequences for those who don’t comply,” Ms Jimenez said.
Members of the public can report pollution on EPA’s 24-hour hotline, by calling 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842).