EPA Victoria (EPA VIC) is investigating how a huge pile of rubble potentially containing asbestos ended up at a Country Fire Authority site near Bendigo.
Following a call to its pollution hotline, EPA VIC Officers inspected the CFA premises at Huntly on 30 June. They found about 1000 cubic metres of concrete rubble in a fenced off, isolated area of the site.
“It appears the rubble has been on site for several years and may contain some asbestos material,” said EPA VIC North West Manager Paul Ratajczyk. “While early indications from CFA testing suggest the waste contains asbestos, as part of its investigation, EPA visited the site yesterday to take further samples to confirm whether asbestos is present or not.”
If the test results show asbestos is present, EPA VIC will issue a clean-up notice to ensure the waste is removed and deposited at a appropriately licensed site. At the same time, it will also look into how the material ended up at the CFA site and who was involved in depositing the material.