Tatchell blast for EPA over waste clean-up cost

AN Environment Protection Authority (EPA) refusal to help pay for removal of industrial waste on a road reserve near Bacchus Marsh has infuriated Moorabool Shire mayor Paul Tatchell.

“The EPA has trashed the idea of cost sharing when clearly their actions have let this situation unfold,” Cr Tatchell said.

The EPA confirmed that it had ruled out bearing part of the cost, an option suggested by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in a hearing last month.

In that hearing, VCAT refused a Shire application for a stay on an EPA order requiring the council to remove the waste – up to 1200 empty dissolved acetylene cylinders on two truck trailers on a Crown road reserve managed by the Shire on behalf of the State Government.

The Shire has estimated that the clean-up and removal could cost as much as $500,000. The site is on Lerderderg Park Road at Merrimu, just east of Bacchus Marsh.

In a statement, the EPA said the clean-up order remained in force and while the VCAT suggestion of sharing the cost was considered, it “was not possible.”

The Shire had been told of that position, it said.

The statement said: “VCAT did not grant a stay on EPA’s decision requiring Moorabool Shire Council to clear waste, including a large number of acetylene cylinders allegedly moved and abandoned in contravention of a previous EPA notice.”

It said the matter is continuing in VCAT so further comment could not be made.

The statement confirmed that an investigation into the illegal dumping is also underway, but comment similarly could not immediately be made on that matter.

But Cr Tatchell remains dissatisfied, insisting that the EPA should share the cost because the person who dumped the waste had been under surveillance since last year and the EPA had failed to take action.

“Why should our ratepayers bear the cost when the EPA had ample time and opportunity to clean up this waste long before it was dumped on land we manage?” he asked.

Council officers recently inspected a property adjoining the site of the trailers using their powers under the Planning and Environment Act.

According to the Shire, they spotted more canisters of suspected toxic waste on the property.

“VCAT says we have to clean up the containers on our land because they are dangerous and unstable – what’s the EPA doing about the canisters on the adjoining property?” Cr Tatchell said.

“We are being told to remove the canisters on the road reserve while there are apparently dozens more on the property they’ve had under surveillance – they’re just sitting there.

“Presumably they are just as dangerous.”

Cr Tatchell said the Shire was working out the logistics of the clean-up, for which it will use specialist contractors.

The cylinders, which are reportedly highly flammable and contain asbestos, will need to be transported safely to the only facility in Victoria – located in Stawell – that can dispose of them correctly.

The Shire is also concerned about what it says are many other container-loads of toxic waste, which aerial footage shows were once stored on the site and are now in places unknown.

It is alerting other municipalities to the possibility that they may also be hit with massive clean-up bills if toxic waste like the cylinders appears on land they own or manage.