An Environment Protection Authority (EPA) clean-up order issued to Moorabool council, which is estimated to cost council about $500,000, will be heard in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
The preliminary hearing against the EPA, starting at 10am on Wednesday, July 9, follows council being ordered by the EPA in June to clean up containers of industrial waste abandoned on a Crown road reserve.
VCAT lists the location as the nature strip of 210 Lerderderg Park Road, Merrimu.
According to council, the site in question is managed by it on behalf of the state government, and the cost of disposing the waste safely is estimated to be $500,000.
Mayor Paul Tatchell said the EPA had been monitoring these container loads of harmful industrial waste since “at least late 2024″.
“Council has some unanswered questions, even on the eve of going to VCAT,” Cr Tatchell said.
“Why didn’t the EPA issue a disposal order against the landowner? … We are now aware more material was stored on site – where has that gone? … How did the industrial waste suddenly turn up on a Crown road reserve while the EPA were monitoring the situation?”
“As a result of EPA inaction, they are now claiming the waste is now the responsibility of Moorabool ratepayers to remove and dispose of safety at a cost of half a million dollars … in our view, this is patently unfair and is an unreasonable cost to ratepayers.”
Cr Tatchell said it should be the EPA’s responsibility as it was “monitoring this situation for many months without council’s knowledge”.
EPA Victoria south-west regional manager Martha-Rose Loughnane said EPA Victoria issued an environmental action notice to council on June 10.
“Since March 2025, there has been extensive engagement between EPA and council regarding this issue,” Ms Loughnane said.
“EPA is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the movement of the waste,” she said.
“As the matter is now before the tribunal, EPA [is] unable to provide further comments.”
