EPA farm visits spark a $10k fine and a clean up

A Preston-based company has copped a $10,176 fine after EPA Victoria officers inspected farms around the northwest.

The team visited a dozen farms around Sunraysia and the Mallee, with a focus on large and intensive agriculture operations, including vineyards.

Officers inspecting a property on New Britain Rd, Robinvale, found evidence of treated pine posts having been burnt. They reported a burn site 20m wide and 70m long, with burnt vines, copper chrome arsenate treated posts, metal trellises and wire amongst the ashes.

Nearby they found a waste pile 20m long and 10m wide containing the burnt remains of tyres, a mattress, more treated pine posts, wooden pallets and a plastic bollard base.

The company, A & L Romeo Pty Ltd, was fined for unlawfully depositing waste (via burning) of more than 1000 litres, an offence under the Environment Protection Act 2017.

The inspections found some of the farms showed signs of burning and other inappropriate waste disposal, with items including treated pine, tyres, grape vine covers, plastic items, chemical drums, and household items.

The officers issued several farm operators with official warnings and one with an Environmental Action Notice requiring a major clean up. They also gave compliance advice to several landholders to help them to understand their legal obligations.

EPA Northwest Regional Manager Paul Ratajczyk says illegally burning and burying farm waste has serious consequences.

“It poses risks to human health and the environment, including the release of toxic smoke, especially when burning plastics or anything treated with chemicals,” Mr Ratajczyk said.

“It leads to contamination of soil and surface water, including runoff into nearby waterways, and the leaching of hazardous substances into groundwater, which affects nearby farms,” he said.

Under the Environment Protection Act 2017 and the Infringements Act 2006, the operator who received the fine has the right to have the infringement notice reviewed or be considered by a court.

Members of the public can report pollution by calling EPA’s 24-hour hotline on 1300 372 842 or providing details online at epa.vic.gov.au/report-pollution/reporting-pollution