Landfill operator Hi-Quality Quarry Products has been ordered to pay $40,000 to a Sunbury community project and $15,000 in court costs following charges brought by the Environment Protection Austhority (EPA) at Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court.
The court did not record a conviction, but imposed the penalty in place of a fine, and required it to publish details of the penalty in a local newspaper [Sunbury Life has not been asked by the firm to publish this report].
EPA’s charges against Hi-Quality in relation to its Sunbury Rd landfill in Bulla include:
- Improper leachate management
- Failure to implement a rehabilitation plan
- Improper waste cover
- Improper disposal of asbestos waste
- Operation of more than one tipping face per cell
- Failure to establish a risk-based monitoring program, and
- Failure to conduct an independent annual survey
The company, which has plans to continue operating its Bulla-based West Gate Tunnel spoil facility until 2048 and to build a waste-to-energy plant, handles industrial waste (asbestos and Category C drilling mud and soil); solid inert waste – such as construction and demolition waste – and waste that can decompose.
EPA officers discovered a series of breaches during site visits in December 2020, February, April, September, and November 2021, and again in March 2022.
The operating licence for the landfill places strict limits on the height of the waste and the amount that can be accepted. There are also conditions to prevent leachate leaking and endangering waterways, people’s health, and local plants and wildlife.
EPA Northern Metropolitan acting regional manager Chloe Bernett says an EPA landfill licence is a protection for the environment and people’s health.
“Each licence has strict legal conditions designed for the operation of that particular landfill, as well as requirements for rehabilitating each landfill cell when it is full,” she said.
“EPA also requires ongoing management of the land long after the landfill ceases to operate.”
The project funding will go to Hume City Council on behalf of the Sunbury Community Arts and Culture Precinct Project in conjunction with the Wurundjeri Corporation, to contribute to the design and construction of a lookout with views of Sunbury.
The platform and story-telling pathway will connect people to the landscape and waterways between Melbourne and Jacksons Hill enabling the community to learn more about indigenous culture, significance of the area, flora or fauna.
