Fine for quarry operator
A Highbury quarry operator has been convicted in the Environment, Resources and Development Court for illegal dumping and fined $24,200.
EM Earth Movers Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to operating a waste depot without an environmental licence at a clay quarry on Churchett Road, Highbury.
An EPA investigation found that between 19,000 and 47,500 cubic metres of construction and demolition waste had been dumped into the quarry between 16 August 2012 and 12 November 2012.
Testing identified elevated concentrations of heavy metals, organochlorine pesticides and hydrocarbons, as well as asbestos mixed in with the waste.
When the EPA became aware of the illegal activity, it issued an Environment Protection Order, and the site has since been remediated.
These types of activities can result in significant harm to the environment and cost to the community, both through loss of amenity and the cost of cleaning up when the operators have long since gone.
This latest prosecution is part of the EPA’s increasing focus on large-scale and commercial-scale illegal dumping, which has resulted in a record number of successful prosecutions in the past year.
