The Barro Group is seeking a review of the Environmental Protection Authority’s decision to revoke its license at the Kealba landfill.
The EPA announced in January it would be revoking the group’s licence for the Sunshine Landfills after multiple alleged breaches.
The decision means Barro can no longer accept waste at the landfill. The EPA said the decision to cancel the licence followed assessment of information Barro Group provided in response to a show cause notice issued by EPA on October 28, 2022.
Underground fires have been burning at the site for more than three years, with Barro missing several deadlines to have the fires out.
The EPA sent residents an update last week.
“The operators of the Sunshine Landfill, Barro Group, are seeking a review of EPA’s licence revocation decision at VCAT [Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal],” the update said.
“An initial hearing is scheduled for Tuesday 14 March 2023 to determine next steps and future hearing dates.
“Rest assured we will defend our decision at VCAT and make sure Barro Group focus on remediating the hotspots and ending the odour.”
The update said the Barro Group had complied with EPA’s recent notice to investigate and provided a final report on hotspot drilling information.
EPA is finalising its review of this report and expects to confirm next steps required of Barro Group in the coming weeks.
An EPA information session to keep residents update to date was held on Thursday.
