The operator of a Keilor quarry has been fined $9616 by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) after it found industrial wastewater flowing down a hillside towards Arundel Creek and the Maribyrnong River.
The property on Annadale Road, Keilor, is also the subject of EPA regulatory notices ordering the occupier, Disposabin Pty Ltd, to introduce planned dust management measures and implement controls to prevent the discharging of wastewater or stormwater containing waste from the premises.
An EPA officer inspected the site on January 26, in response to a report from a member of the public and found liquid discharging down an embankment towards the creek, near Annandale Road.
The water was being pumped out of a dam on the premises and onto the hillside. The EPA officer took wastewater samples which contained elevated levels of copper, iron, lead, nickel and zinc.
EPA northern metropolitan regional manager Chloe Bernett said wastewater is not just water.
“The quarry is used for the extraction of clay, shale, sand and gravel, and the wastewater from the drilling process contains mud and minerals including a variety of metals at higher than normal levels,” Ms Bernett said.
“It is not only industrial waste under the law, but also a hazard to the natural environment and people’s health and should not be allowed to flow into a creek or river.”
