Waste centre fight looms
GEELONG council is pursuing legal action against a recycling company that is in the gun over a dangerous amount of waste at Lara.
Authorities have determined that the C & D Recycling site in Lara is an environmental, fire and public safety risk.
After issuing a fire prevention notice for the site in August, the council has now launched legal action against the business for failing to comply with its planning permit.
In response, C & D Recycling has lodged a counterapplication in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
It is seeking to amend the permit, issued last year in VCAT despite opposition from the council, to extend the allowable time frames.
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has also ordered the business to stop accepting waste, until it can show it can meet new standards introduced in the wake of the high-profile blaze at a Coolaroo recycling plant in July.
“EPA has been very clear in its view on how this site needs to be managed; however, the duty holder has appealed this notice to VCAT,” EPA CEO Nial Finegan said. “EPA will continue to work with council and others to ensure the duty holder acts to reduce the fire risk posed by the site.”
The legal showdown is set to play out in VCAT in early 2018.
A compulsory conference is scheduled next month, with a hearing set down for March. The Geelong Advertiser revealed in August that the EPA was concerned that C & D Recycling had no clear marketbased plan to recycle the growing amount of material at its Broderick Rd site.
MEANWHILE a man has been hit with a sizeable bill for failing to clean up piles of industrial waste at his Marengo property. After pleading guilty in the Colac Magistrates’ Court to two charges, the man was fined $12,500 and ordered to pay costs of $8300.