By Charlene Macaulay
A Point Cook man has been fined nearly $2000 for the illegal dumping of mud on a vacant block of land.
Environment Protection Authority (EPA) metro region manager Daniel Hunt said a member of the public spotted a truck dumping the muddy load on a block in a Point Cook estate in the early hours of September 19.
Mr Hunt said EPA officers took samples of the mud and contacted the owner of the truck, who told them the dumping was an accident and the employee responsible no longer worked for him.
There was no arrangement with the owner of the land, nor a licence for waste to be accepted on that land. The man was fined $1934.
“The witness noted the truck’s registration number and called EPA. It made all the difference, we were able to trace the truck and contact the owner with comparative ease,” Mr Hunt said.
“A load of slurry might not seem to be much of an environmental threat, but it is industrial waste, the site is someone’s block in a housing estate, and the danger with unlicensed dumping is that it could contain just about anything.”
Mr Hunt said the EPA was considering compelling the owner of the truck to remove the mud and clean up the site. The mud, which was analysed, had no contaminants.
The infringement comes four months after the EPA fined Campbellfield-based construction company Winslow Constructors $7929 for discharging sediment-laden water into a conservation zone near Davis Creek in Tarneit.
Pollution reports can be made on the 24-hour EPA hotline, 1300 372 842.
