A company that stored prescribed industrial waste without the relevant EPA licence has been fined $15,000.
Bradbury Industrial Services, based in Campbellfield in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, specialises in treating solvent and other waste from paint and other related industries and held an EPA licence for its site.
Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court heard that following a fire at the firm’s licensed premises in April 2013, EPA Victoria (EPA VIC) officers visited the site as part of its investigation. They found the company was storing more than 40,000 litres of waste from paint, ink and related industries at a nearby unlicensed factory. The material was being kept in 1000-litre containers on the premises, where the firm had been keeping its trucks.
Samples taken confirmed the waste was Category A – Prescribed Industrial Waste (PIW). Category A PIW requires the highest level of management due to its potential to be hazardous to human health and the environment.
EPA VIC issued the company with three notices requiring all industrial waste be removed from the unlicensed factory and that it clean up contamination that had occurred at the premises. The company complied with these notices.
Bradbury Industrial Services pleaded guilty to two charges under the Environment Protection Act 1970 to operating a facility without a licence and storing PIW at an unlicensed site.
In sentencing, Magistrate Fella said a strong message needed to be sent to the community in relation to general deterrence, especially in relation to dealing with some of the most hazardous waste in our community.
In addition to the $15,000 fine, the Magistrate also ordered the company pay $7, 611 in legal costs within three months.