Dubbo Regional Council: James Humphrey to fight council over chemical breach

A former waste contractor is set to fight a regional council in the Supreme Court following a chemical spill that left him with headaches and burning eyes. See the latest here.

Former Sam's Waste employee James Humphrey was allegedly exposed to chemicals from a sewage incident in December 2016 and is seeking answers.

An ongoing battle to investigate the circumstances surrounding the spill of unknown chemicals — which “stripped raw sewage pipes clean” at a regional council water treatment plant — has wound up in the Supreme Court.

Former Sam’s Waste contractor James Humprey alleges the council and the NSW Environmental Protection Authority failed to investigate a 2016 incident at a Dubbo sewage treatment plant, where he says he was exposed to unknown chemicals and was asked to continue working.

The contractor told The Dubbo News he “immediately suffered from a headache and burning eyes” and was coughing after being exposed to the unknown chemicals alongside two engineers.

Mr Humphrey said council management visited the site following the incident and did not sample the chemicals.

The Dubbo News understands council is not required and does undertake testing of septage waste.

“They proceeded to say everything was clear and told me to carry on with the job,” Mr Humprey said.

“They moved all the council workers away and I was exposed for another two hours while I was dry retching and had the classic chemical symptoms.”

The former employee alleges the council conducted a minor investigation, which was believed to have found the chemicals stripped the sewage pipes “clean”.

“It would have been an abrasive chemical if it stripped raw sewage pipes clean,” Mr Humprey said.

“I’ve been trying to get the EPA to investigate the incident for six years.”

A spokesman said council was unable to comment on the matter. as it was still under investigation.

An EPA spokesman said Mr Humphrey reported the incident several weeks after it allegedly occurred. meaning the department was “unable to take samples” and is “unable to comment on the presence of any chemicals”.

“A further official report was made to the Environment Line in December 2020,” the spokesman said.

“(Mr) Humphrey has been advised that the incident now falls outside the statute of limitations and that for incidents related to work health and safety, SafeWork NSW is the regulator.”

Mr Humphrey and DRC will be attending the Supreme Court in May with a mediation expected to take place.