ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency (EPA) Victoria has a blunt warning for anyone setting fire to household or industrial waste, after the environmental watchdog issued $10,000 fines for a string of dump-and-burn offences in just a few weeks. It is unlawful to dispose of industrial waste by burning, and EPA Executive Director Operations, Rachel Gualano, says whether it is carelessness, ignorance or a planned criminal act, burning dumped waste is a win for nobody. “Burning waste that should be recycled or sent to an EPA licensed landfill only pollutes the air with smoke, the land with chemical residue, and nearby waterways with tainted runoff,” Ms Gualano said. “And while those responsible might think they saved the cost of proper disposal, anyone with a phone can report it as pollution, leaving the culprit open to a fine or prosecution, plus an order to clean it up at their own expense,” she said. “In recent cases, members of the public and unannounced inspections by EPA officers have exposed evidence of burning waste; in some cases while the waste was still smouldering.” Each company was hit with a fine of more than $10,000 for dump-and-burn offences, including: An Ararat construction and earthworks company, fined $10,455 for adding plastic, oil, metal, timber and other waste to what should have been a legal green waste burn off; another Ararat company, fined $10,176 after EPA officers used an aerial drone to find construction and demolition waste had been burned and buried; a Melbourne company, fined $10,176 after an EPA inspection blitz on farms in Sunraysia and the Mallee found burnt remains of treated pine posts, metal trellises, wire, plastic items, discarded tyres and mattresses; a Melton company fined $10,176 after EPA found piles of mixed construction waste including metal, timber, glass, plastic, plasterboard and wire. Members of the public had reported loads being brought in, dumped and set on fire. EPA receives more than 26,000 pollution reports from the public every year, and leads the Illegal Waste Dumping Taskforce, a partnership with the Conservation Regulator, Parks Victoria and Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) that shares intelligence gathering and enforcement capacity to tackle illegal dumping on public land. Anyone 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
