Charges : 13 in total

Disobey conditions of a licence at Bulla, on the following dates, contrary to s.27(2) - 9 charges:

Charge No: 4 01.02.20 to 29.02.20

Charge No: 5 01.02.20 to 27.04.21

Charge No: 8 18.12.20

Charge No: 10 18.12.20

Charge No: 13 09.02.21

Charge No: 14 27.04.21

Charge No: 15 27.04.21

Charge No: 18 27.04.21

Charge No: 19 27.04.21

Breach a condition of a licence at Bulla, on the following dates, contrary to s.63(1) - 4 charges:

Charge No: 24 01.09.21

Charge No: 25 01.09.21

Charge No: 30 09.12.21 to 02.03.22

Charge No: 31 22.03.22 to 23.03.22

1. Hi-Quality Quarry Products Pty Ltd (Hi-Quality) is the owner of land at 570 Sunbury Road, Bulla (Premises). The Premises is a large parcel of land of approximately 181 hectares. The Premises forms part of a larger landholding owned by the Hi-Quality Group used for a range of waste and resource recovery activities which is in total approximately 261 hectares.

2. Hi-Quality holds EPA an operating licence allowing them to operate a prescribed industrial waste landfill facility at the Premises (Licence). Hi-Quality is authorised under the Licence to accept a range of waste at the Premises, including: a. Prescribed industrial waste (Category C drilling mud, Category C soil, asbestos); b. Solid inert waste, such as from construction and demolition activities; and c. Putrescible waste

3. Waste is deposited into various “cells” at the Premises, in accordance with an approved presettlement contour plan (PSCP) attached to Hi-Quality’s licence. Schedule 1C of the Licence contains the PSCP, which determines the height of the various cells and therefore how much waste can be accepted at the Premises.

4. The EPA conducts regular assessments of Hi-Quality’s compliance with their Licence, which involves visiting and inspecting the Premises, and meeting with HI-QUALITY employees.

5. The charges in this matter relate to the following: • Breaches of Licence conditions charged pursuant to section 27(2) of the 1970 Act and section 63(1) of the 2017 Act. • Failures to comply with remedial notices issued by the EPA, charged pursuant to section 31A(7) of the 1970 Act, and section 286(1) of the 2017 Act.

6. The breaches were primarily detected during site visits on 18 December 2020, 9 February 2021, 27 April 2021, 1 September 2021, 18 November 2021 and 22 March 2022.

7. Specific charges 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.

8. The EPA issued several Pollution Abatement Notices and an Improvement Notice to Hi-Quality, which they failed to comply with.