Reynella man busted dumping asbestos by northwest waterway

An intricate CCTV set-up has uncovered a rubbish dumper who used the cover of darkness to drop a bag of asbestos near an Adelaide waterway. It is the latest in a shocking trend for our city.

A plan to dump potentially deadly asbestos waste next to wetlands in Adelaide’s northwest has been unravelled by an intricate CCTV set-up.

Reynella local Ronald Shaw admitted to leaving a bag of asbestos on the ground near Barker Inlet Wetlands at Dry Creek after video footage recorded by the Port Adelaide Enfield Council caught him red-handed.

The final dumping site was just hundreds of metres from a hazardous waste depot.

Shaw on Friday faced off against the council in the Environment, Resource and Development, where council prosecutors produced the damning footage.

The council had earlier set up the CCTV cameras as a trial focusing on dumping hot spots, including on Magazine Rd at Dry Creek, near where Shaw laid his waste.

The footage showed Shaw drive into the area on August 3 with items in the back of his vehicle, but when he left they were no longer there.

A CCTV still image used in the prosecution of a man who dumped asbestos at Dry Creek. Picture: Supplied

A bag of asbestos waste dumped at Dry Creek by a man who was prosecuted for illegal dumping. Picture: Supplied

Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor Claire Boan said the council took illegal dumping “very seriously”, particularly when it involved asbestos.

“I’m shocked that while we all know the dangers of asbestos, people still casually throw this dangerous material into a public place instead of disposing of it responsibly,” Ms Boan said.

The bag of asbestos tied to a Stobie pole with the wetlands just metres away in the background. Picture: Supplied

Shaw was fined almost $6500 for the offence and ordered to pay associated court costs.

A council spokesman said Port Adelaide Enfield spent about $600,000 each year cleaning up illegally dumped waste.

Shaw’s offences came just weeks after the Environment Protection Authority was granted a court order to stop a Burton company from receiving waste.

Illegal dumping has long plagued South Australian councils.

In 2020, Mount Barker Council revealed it had received more than 400 clean-up requests in four years and spent about $20,000 each year cleaning up illegally dumped waste.

In February 2017 the Local Nuisance and Litter Control Act 2016 was introduced to increase penalties for illegal dumping.

Months later the Playford Council revealed almost 5000 cases of illegally dumped litter had plagued the council in the space of just nine months costing ratepayers about $1m to clean up.

Rubbish dumped just metres from the banks of the River Torrens at Hindmarsh. Pictures: Supplied

Recently, photos of a dumping spot on the bank of the Torrens River at Hindmarsh showed mounds of rubbish including old bras, face masks and whitegoods piling up.

The Charles Sturt Council was contacted about the discovery.