The company operating the Sunshine Landfill at Kealba and its three directors have been charged by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
Barro Group and its directors have been charged with breaches of the General Environmental Duty (GED) under the Environment Protection Act 2017.
The charges allege non-compliance with the GED and have a maximum penalty of $1.8 million for the company and $360,000 for each director.
Hot spot fires have been burning at the landfill for more than two years, generating odours.
The EPA said the GED requires that every Victorian in undertaking activities must reduce the risk of harm to human health and the environment from pollution or waste.
“The decision to pursue charges for this landfill relate to smoke and odour caused by hotspots at the landfill impacting on nearby residents and the environment,” EPA chief executive Lee Miezis said.
“EPA is using the stronger powers it was given in the Environment Protection Act that came into effect last year to hold landfill operators and all business to account when they break the law and impact the community and the environment.”
EPA has also issued Barro Group Pty a Notice to Show Cause why its licence to operate should not be revoked.
The company has until November 14 to respond to the notice before EPA makes the decision on whether to revoke its licence to operate a landfill at the site.
EPA extended the suspension of Barro Group’s licence to receive waste at Sunshine Landfill on September 30.
That suspension and regulatory notices on the business remain in place while these new enforcement actions take their course. The regulatory notices issued by EPA require the company to continue remediation work on the site to extinguish the hotspots and put appropriate controls in place to stop them from happening again.
Nearby residents, including Brimbank councillor Virginia Tachos have welcomed the charges.
