Shire furious at cost of clean-up ruling

MOORABOOL Shire Council feels “dumped upon” by the decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) that it must spend about half a million dollars to clean up what it says is harmful industrial waste on council-managed land.

The Shire had sought a stay on an Environment Protection Authority (EPA) order that it must dispose of the waste – as many as 1250 empty dissolved acetylene cylinders on two truck trailers – because it was the responsible authority.

The site is a nature strip at 210 Lerderderg Park Road, Merrimu, east of Bacchus Marsh. It is a Crown land road reserve for which the Shire is responsible on behalf of the State Government.

The Shire had argued that it should not have to pay for or carry out a removal of the cylinders because it did not put them there, but VCAT refused the application last week.

Mayor Cr Paul Tatchell was outraged at the decision, venting his anger publicly in media interviews after the ruling was handed down.

In a later statement, he said it was unfair that ratepayers should have to foot the bill.

“Council argued that the EPA had the illegal dumper of the harmful waste under surveillance at least since 2024 without council’s knowledge, and the EPA had failed to take action,” he said.

“Suddenly, when the material is placed on council land, the EPA springs into action and decides to punch down on the council with the range of powers a body such as the EPA has at its disposal.

“How is this fair? It is unjust and un-Australian.

“In our view the EPA should have to cover the cost of the clean-up, not our residents. They had a chance to act, they didn’t and they’ve decided to play ‘pass the parcel’ with dangerous waste which suddenly became more dangerous when it appeared on council land.

“Now we’ll have to find half a million bucks to clean it up – that’s about $25 for every ratepayer in the Shire.”

The Shire considers the cylinders dangerous because it is understood that at least some of them contain asbestos.

Cr Tatchell urged residents to join the Shire in expressing disappointment to the EPA.

“Give them a call or send them a message on their socials – let them know you agree with us that this is just not good enough,” he said.

Cr Tatchell said the Shire was now working out the logistics of the removal and was also alerting other municipalities to the VCAT decision.

It has warned of significant disruption during the operation, with road closures expected as specialist contractors remove the trailers.

Cr Tatchell warned that the VCAT decision had implications for other councils right around Victoria.

“Our satellite imagery indicates more container loads of this harmful waste were on the site under observation by the EPA,” he said. “Where have they gone?

“Based on this decision, if people generating harmful waste try to absolve themselves of responsibility by dumping it on council-managed or owned land, other councils would be responsible for the clean-up and are likely to get a big bill from the EPA just like us.

“This decision really makes it a free-for-all for illegal dumpers across the state at the expense of councils and the community.”

In a statement, the EPA said: “VCAT has not granted the 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.

“As a result of VCAT’s ruling, EPA’s decision requiring council to clear the waste remains in force.

“The matter is continuing in VCAT as the final hearing is not until later this year. EPA’s investigation into the illegal dumping is ongoing so further comment can not be made.”

The hearing referred to will be a compulsory follow-up conference scheduled for 8 September.