A Pascoe Vale based company has been fined $10176 for burning industrial waste including suspected asbestos on land at Diggers Rest.
A Class Demolition & Asbestos Removal Pty Ltd was burning a mix of green waste and the remains of buildings that had been demolished on the site, according to Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA).
The land on Plumpton Road is near a residential estate and members of the public called the CFA to fight the fire and then EPA which found piles of ash containing fragments of building material and suspected asbestos.
When EPA officers entered the property on 25 September the largest stockpile measuring 4 metres long, 11 metres wide and half a metre deep, was still hot.
They also found bunkers containing burnt waste and building rubble. EPA officers took samples of the ash and the suspected asbestos for analysis, and issued the fine for depositing more than 1000 litres of waste by burning.
EPA western metropolitan regional manager Julie Gaitan said burning waste and the turning of land into an unofficial tip was against the law.
“Legitimate landfills must be licensed and operate under strict EPA conditions that require measures to suppress litter, vermin, odour and leakage from the site,” Ms Gaitan said.
“Digging a pit and burning waste causes uncontrolled contamination of the land, the air and nearby waterways. Community members don’t like that; they can report you with a phone call and some even send us photos to help with the investigation.”
Members of the public can report pollution by calling EPA’s 24-hour hotline on 1300 372 842 or providing details online at epa.vic.gov.au/report-pollution/reporting-pollution.
