Charges: 11 in total

1 & 10: Did receive industrial waste without authority at Campbellfield on 08.03.22 and at Bulla on 08.07.22, contrary to s.134(2).

2, 12 & 13: Unlawful deposit of industrial waste at Campbellfield on 30.06.22 and at Bulla on 08.07.22 and from 16.09.22 to 11.01.23, contrary to s.133(3).

4 & 11: Carried out a prescribed registration activity without permission at Campbellfield from 08.03.22 to 30.06.22 and at Bulla on 08.07.22, contrary to s.47(1).

5 & 8: Failed to comply with clean up notice at Campbellfield on 10.01.23 & 24.01.23, contrary to s.290(1).

14 & 15: Failed to comply with EAN at Bulla on 10.01.23 & 24.01.23, contrary to s.290(1).

Ironman Bin Hire Pty Ltd (ACN: 633161092) (‘Corporate Accused’) occupied the properties at 80 Blackwells Lane, Bulla, and 32-34 Merri Concourse, Campbellfield, where it operated a waste and resource recovery facility.

Randi Yousha (‘Individual Accused’) is, and was at the time of the alleged offending, the sole director of the Corporate Accused.

On 8 March 2022, following a community pollution report, EPA officers inspected the Campbellfield, which revealed:

1. The Corporate Accused was operating a waste transfer station at the Premises, where it received skip bins of waste from customers;

b. The waste received onsite was sorted and then sold off to recyclers;

c. The majority of the customers are new home builders; and

d. Large stockpiles of industrial waste, principally construction and demolition waste, was onsite.

The officers gave representatives of the Corporate Accused, including the Individual Accused, advice over the requirements of the EP Act. That advice was not heeded, and officers were forced to return to the site again on 30 June 2022, again following a report that industrial waste was being burnt. That inspection confirmed the report and also revealed that the Corporate Accused had continued to receive industrial waste without authority despite the previous compliance advice.

Sometime between the two inspections, the accused began moving industrial waste from the Campbellfield site to the Bulla site. Officers inspected the latter property on 8 July 2022, again following a pollution report having been received from the public on the same day. The inspection revealed seven stockpiles of industrial waste, some of which was being burnt in metal drums across the site. The property was not authorised to receive industrial waste.

On 26 July 2022, EPA officers measured the total volume of industrial waste at the Campbellfield site using a drone to be around 3,981m3.

Officers carried out further inspections of the Bulla site on 16 September and 5 October 2022. They revealed that the Corporate Accused was burying industrial waste covered with aggregate rock to form a road across the site to be used by trucks.

On 10 November 2022, the Authority issued environmental action notices in respect of both properties. The notice requirements included that:

1. The Corporate Accused immediately cease accepting industrial waste at the  properties;

b. Industrial waste be removed by 10 January 2023;

c. The Corporate Accused provide records of where the waste was removed to by 24 January 2023.

Neither of those requirements was complied with. The Corporate Accused continued to receive industrial waste on 22 March and 14 April 2023 at the Campbellfield site. By the date of the plea, the second and third requirements were still outstanding.

Finally, on 12 September 2023, Fire Rescue Victoria were called to attend the site to extinguish two fires in 44-gallon drums containing building waste and treated pine. EPA officers attended shortly after and observed the burnt waste and ash.