Shire completes clean-up of illegally dumped industrial waste

MOORABOOL Shire Council has completed the clean-up of industrial waste from a road reserve at Merrimu, near Bacchus Marsh.

The clean-up of more than 1000 empty dissolved acetylene cylinders on two truck trailers took several days and was carried out in compliance with an Environment Protection Authority (EPA) order.

It was finished earlier this week.

The Shire has been in dispute with the EPA over both the clean-up order and the estimated $500,000 cost, neither of which it believes it should be responsible for.

It challenged the order at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) last month on the basis that it should not be responsible for waste dumped on Crown land it manages on behalf of the State Government.

Mayor Cr Paul Tatchell has also been outspoken about the EPA’s refusal to share the cost.

“While the EPA watched, Moorabool Shire stepped up to protect our community and clean up a mess we didn’t make,” Cr Tatchell said.

The Shire engaged specialist contractors to remove the cylinders from the trailers and inspect them before repacking them into new trailers for transportation to the only facility in Victoria that can dispose of them correctly, which is in Stawell.

According to the Shire, the cylinders were dumped illegally on the road reserve in Lerderderg Park Road, Merrimu.

It also claims they are toxic because they are highly flammable and contain asbestos.

The Shire has claimed the EPA had the property the trailers originated from under surveillance for at least a year but had failed to act until the trailers turned up on the council-managed land.

It says the $500,000 clean-up cost equates to about $25 for every ratepayer.

At the VCAT hearing, the Shire argued that the EPA should be responsible for disposing of the waste in line with its statutory duties and powers under the Environmental Protection Act 2017.

Sharing the cost was suggested by the tribunal but was discounted by the EPA, which has also said investigations into the dumping are underway.