Bundaberg Sugar told by govt to clean up massive tyre stockpile

Bundaberg Sugar has been ordered to remove a stockpile of tyres which industry bodies say could cause a ‘massive environmental problem’ for nearby communities and resources.

Bundaberg Sugar has been ordered by the Qld government to remove a stockpile of tyres which industry bodies have said could cause a “massive environmental problem”.

One of Bundaberg’s most iconic companies is at risk of a $1 million fine for storing a stockpile of disused tyres the size of a basketball court on one of its properties.

The state government’s environment watchdog has ordered the company to clean up the mess, which a tyre recycling peak body said could cause a “massive environmental problem”.

The Queensland Department of Environment and Science issued a direction notice to Bundaberg Sugar on October 31 in relation to a 1,620cu m stockpile of tyres that, by the company’s own admission, had been on their Fairymead Rd property for “several years”.

Addressed to Bundaberg Sugar general manager of farms Simon Doyle and published on the department’s website, the notice informs Bundaberg Sugar that, given they do not have an environmental authority to store the toxic tyres, they have contravened the Environmental Protection Act and must have all waste tyres removed from their property by a licensed transporter by August 30, 2024.

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Failure to comply with the direction notice will incur a maximum penalty of $1,288,710 for a corporation.

Mr Doyle did not respond to questions before deadline.

Aerial photographs of the site show what appear to be truck and tractor tyres piled on the side of an access road into Bundaberg Sugar’s Fairymead property, around 600m from Fairymead Rd and 460m from the residential community of Gooburrum, separated by bushland.

Australian Tyre Recyclers Association CEO Robert Kelman said the community of Gooburrum, less than 500m from the stockpile would need to be evacuated if the tyres caught fire.

The pile of tyres is around 40m long and 25m wide, with the Department of Environment report estimating it to be around 3m high.

CEO of the Australian Tyre Recyclers Association Robert Kelman said it was “baffling” that a company the size of Bundaberg Sugar would not be disposing of the tyres responsibly.

Risks to having such a large stockpile of tyres include spreading mosquito-borne diseases such as Ross River fever and Dengue fever, and the risk of contamination of the nearby community and cane fields from toxic smoke if the stockpile were to catch on fire.

Toxic water run-off from any attempt to extinguish the fire posed a threat too.

“Mosquitos love that stockpile of tyres, because tyres are dark, the warm water gets into them and you can barely ever get it out so they’re very stable environment for mosquito breeding,” Mr Kelman said.

“And then of course you’ve got the fire risk … once they alight tyres are very hard to put out.

“You’ve got large resources of people having to be thrown at it, and you’ve got masses of water to put something like that out which potentially runs off into the environment … which is an environmental hazard; and then the smoke itself is highly damaging to human health.”

The 3m-high pile of tyres takes up a basketball-court sized footprint on the Bundaberg Sugar Fairymead property, which the company said had been built up over "several years".

Beyond the water run-off causing a “massive environmental problem” for the nearby cane fields, Mr Kelman said the community of Gooburrum would likely need to be evacuated if the stockpile caught on fire.

“If there was a fire that really took hold in that pile, and you’ve got a prevailing wind running in that direction, then that community is evacuated.

“They’re not sitting around and breathing in that stuff.”

Mr Kelman said it would be straightforward for Bundaberg Sugar to have disposed of the tyres responsibly using one of the many licensed operators in Brisbane that regularly service the regions including Bundaberg, with their unwillingness to do so likely due to “cost avoidance”.

The cost of disposing of the stockpile after languishing for several years is likely to be much more expensive due to the tyres at the bottom of the pile being unable to be recycled and thus needing to be deposited in landfill, with associated levees and gate fees.

A tyre fire at a Melbourne factory in 2016 sent up a thick black plume of smoke that was seen up to 75km, with 50 firefighters and 20 vehicles including a fire bomber battling the blaze.

The notice said the department was first notified of the deposit of tyres on September 15, 2023.

It was advised by Bundaberg Sugar on October 10 that the stockpile had existed for “several years”, the notice said, and that the company had begun the process to remove the tyres from the property.

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Department of Environment officials inspected the property on October 26 and observed the stockpile was still in place, which triggered the issuing of the direction notice the following week.

The Department of Environment has been contacted for comment.