Kealba landfill

Status	in recovery
Incident date	November 2019
Locations affected	Kealba, Keilor, Keilor Downs, Kings Park, St Albans, St Albans East, Sunshine, Sunshine North, Taylors Lakes

Intent to suspend the Sunshine landfill licence

We issued a notice of our intent to suspend the operating licence on 5 December 2025, giving Barro Group ten business days to respond.

We have since granted an extension and Barro Group now has until February 2026 to demonstrate why its licence should not be suspended.

EPA does not believe that Barro has the systems in place to manage the risks from their operations to keep the community safe.

Ban on landfill operations

We issued a prohibition notice on 1 December 2025.

This bans Barro Group from accepting waste and commencing landfill operation until the remaining hotspot is extinguished.

Further information can be found through our media release.

Inspections continue

EPA last inspected the site on Friday 28 November 2025. We did not detect odour onsite and noted:

work to progress environmental audit recommendations is required
onsite remediation and management have progressed in line with their EPA notice.

Odour reports have reduced significantly. This may be due to reductions in odour, but also community fatigue in reporting.

Background

Since November 2019, odour from Sunshine landfill has been impacting communities to the north and west.

The odour has come from hotspots – areas of high temperature deep within the landfill cells. These hotspots are likely to be caused by oxygen entering the landfill, resulting in the combustion of old, decomposing waste.

Oxygen is likely to have entered the Sunshine landfill through:

exposed, external side walls
the leachate drainage layer. This layer extended up the clay liner bund and was exposed to the air.
leachate sump risers being surrounded with gravel instead of low permeability soil.

Planning issues and land use decisions around the site have been complex. Local government approved the planning permit and has since had concerns about the site. Local government was not successful in challenging Barro Group in 2015 in relation to the land use permit. EPA continues to engage with local government to understand if there are any other planning avenues available in relation to the land use at the Kealba site.

EPA continues to have concerns about the suitability of this site due to its proximity to residential areas.

Our regulatory actions reflect a broader approach, beyond site remediation. Following our compliance action, 3 of the 4 hotspots have been extinguished.

Our role

Our priority is preventing and minimising any harm to community health and the environment.

As Victoria’s independent environment regulator, we're responsible for making sure businesses prevent or control pollution and improve the quality of the environment. This includes regulating activities that may cause harm to human health or the environment.

Report pollution

Your reports help us monitor progress at the site and inform our regulatory actions.

Report odour

Report smoke

Health information

We monitor odour around the site. Past results indicate the long-term risk to health from the odour exposure is very low.

However, we know odour from the site can be offensive, and is causing short-term effects and community distress.

Community members have reported physical symptoms such as:

sore throat
headache
nausea
stinging eyes
triggering of asthma symptoms
impacts to wellbeing, mental health and quality of life.

If you feel unwell or distressed

Call NURSE-ON-CALL(opens in a new window) on 1300 60 60 24
Visit a doctor
Visit Medicare Mental Health to find mental health resources from trusted service providers, including Lifeline(opens in a new window) and Beyond Blue(opens in a new window).

Information for local doctors

We have provided information to help GPs working with those impacted by the odour at Sunshine landfill.

Visit the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry(opens in a new window) for more information about environmental odours.

Our response

We continue to inspect and regulate the site, assess potential off-site odour impacts and provide updates to the community.

December 2025
1 December - We undertook a range of regulatory actions including:
- writing to Barro to advise them that we will write to them about taking the initial step to suspend their operating licence
- prohibiting Barro from accepting waste and operating the landfill
- legally requiring Barro to remediate the final hotspot to comply with a new Environmental Action Notice.
- informing the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) that we could no longer defend the revocation of Barro’s previous operating licence. Our position was based on hotspot remediation, because only 3 of the 4 hotspots are now remediated.
1 December – EPA met with community representatives to outline the regulatory actions being pursued.
5 December – we issued a notice of our intent to suspend the operating licence giving Barro ten business days to respond.
18 December – we approved a request from Barro to respond to the notice of our intent to suspend the operating licence to February 2026.
October 2025
On 28 October 2025 we conducted an off-site odour survey and a site inspection to assess compliance with the Act and check on progress with hotspot remediation.
September 2025
On 22 September 2025 we conducted an inspection of the site to assess compliance with the Act and check on progress with hotspot remediation. We also continued to conduct off-site odour surveys.
On 23 September 2025, we held a community information session at the Kealba Hall to provide updates on our regulation of the site, the current status of the hotspot and remediation works.
August 2025
On 12 August 2025, we held a community information session to provide updates on the status of the hotspot, remediation works and legal matters.
EPA also conducted two rounds of out-of-hours off-site odour surveys to assess potential odour impacts from the landfill.
To meet compliance with EAN-0000667-4, Barro Group submitted to EPA a risk of harm environmental audit for the site.
July 2025
In July 2025, following a strategic review we withdrew criminal charges alleging various non-compliances. We will remain focused on our action to defend the revocation of Barro Group’s EPA operating licence.
On 31 July 2025 we conducted an inspection together with the auditor and hotspot consultant, where we discussed the progress of hotspot remediation and the landfill audit.
June 2025
At the request of EPA, Barro provides an updated version of the hotspot remediation plan which considers all data gathered as part of the oxygen suppression strategy.
May 2025
We issue IGN-00008714. This requires Barro Group to provide information about the management of the Cell 4 leachate sump with regard to oxygen ingress.
On 1 May, we inspect the site to discuss progress of hotspot remediation and to assess compliance with the Act.
March 2025
Following discussions between EPA and Barro, an agreement on the audit period is reached and EAN-00006679-3 is finalised.
February 2025
On 20 February, we host an information session at our Sunshine office to discuss legal aspects of this issue. This includes current court cases against Barro.
On 24 February, expert witness statement relating to the VCAT hearing associated with EAN-00006679 (risk of harm audit notice) is filed.
Also on 24 February, we receive the fourth hotspot quarterly report. This report summarises the size and trends associated with the hotspots at the landfill. We're currently assessing this document to understand the size and trends associated with the hotspot.
On 27 February, the courts adjourn Barro's committal mention to undisclosed later date.
January 2025
We issue information gathering notice IGN-00008080. This requires Barro Group to provide more information about landfill gas management at the site.
Barro complies with this notice, and provides information to us on 18 February.
On 31 January, we inspect the site to assess compliance with the Act.
We inspect the site 10 times throughout the year to assess compliance with the Act.
November 2024
There is a compulsory conference for EAN-00006679. No agreement is reached. The final VCAT hearing for this notice is scheduled for April 2025.
September 2024
A preliminary stay hearing takes place at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for EAN-00006679. This notice seeks to require Barro Group to undertake a risk of harm environmental audit.
August 2024
On 29 August, we host an information session at Kealba Hall to talk to the community about:
- odour issues in St Albans and Kealba
- our compliance and enforcement actions.
July 2024
On 15 July, we issue environmental action notice EAN-00006679. This requires Barro Group to undertake an audit to assess the nature and extent of risk of harm to human health and the environment from waste deposited as part of landfill activities.
April 2024
On 19 April, we issue information gathering notice IGN-00006672. This requires information about actioning recommendations from the previous audit.
We issue a notice of revocation, cancelling Barro Group’s licence to operate the landfill at Kealba. Barro Group cannot resume receiving waste at the site.
The licence is formally revoked on 1 February 2023.
After receiving the report from Barro Group in late December 2022, we issue notice to investigate NTI-00003911. This requires an auditor-verified report on the latest hotspot drilling information by 31 January 2023.
We issue environmental action notice EAN-00001856 to extinguish the hotspots by the end of August. Barro seeks an extension of time for this notice, which we refuse.
Barro Group fail to extinguish the final hotspot by 22 August.
On 30 September, we extend the suspension of Barro Group's operating licence for the Kealba landfill until 31 January 2023.
On 28 October, we charge Barro Group and its 3 directors with breaches of the general environmental duty(opens in a new window).
A committal mention hearing is set for 31 March 2023 at the Melbourne Magistrates Court for the charges we laid against Barro Group and its 3 directors.
A Supreme Court hearing is set for 3 October 2023 for Barro Group’s request for a judicial review of our decision to refuse an extension of environmental action notice EAN-00001856, which required them to extinguish the final hotspot by 22 August 2022.
In late December, we receive a preliminary report from lawyers representing Barro Group stating that an additional 90,000 to 100,000 cubic metres of material may need to be excavated to extinguish the final hotspot. This may take an additional 12 to 18 months. This information contradicts advice from Barro Group in October 2022 that works to extinguish the remaining hotspot were about 90% done, with completion expected by the end of 2022.
In March, we issue Barro Group with an updated cleanup notice to extinguish hotspots and engage with the community.
On 20 May, we refuse an application by Barro Group to amend its cleanup notice to extend the deadline for cleaning up the hotspots.
On 31 May, Barro Group fails to fix Hotspots 2, 3, and 4 by the due date in its cleanup notice. We start an investigation into this non-compliance.
On 6 August, we deploy 2 new air quality monitors in Kealba and St Albans. Air quality monitors measure particles in the local air. The results are reported on our air and water quality map(opens in a new window).
On 13 September, we suspend Barro Group’s licence to operate the Kealba landfill. The suspension takes immediate effect.
We issue an environmental action notice requiring Barro to manage the landfill in lieu of their licence being suspended.
We issue an official warning for failing to notify us of the hotspots within 24 hours.
We issue a cleanup notice requiring Barro Group to remediate hotspots, conduct air quality monitoring and community engagement.
We issue a fine of approximately $8,000 for not applying a daily cover on waste.
We carry out onsite volatile organic compound (VOC) monitoring. Barro Group announce a voluntary suspension of any incoming waste at the landfill until the hotspots are resolved.
We inspect the landfill fortnightly and conduct weekly odour surveys.

Stay informed

We update our website with our response to the Kealba landfill.

Updated 23 December 2025