Bradbury Industrial Services charged by EPA over Campbellfield factory fire
A Campbellfield company and its director will face court on Wednesday over a toxic inferno that shut schools and blanketed Melbourne in smoke last year, after being hit with 10 charges by the EPA.
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A Campbellfield company and its director will face court on Wednesday over a toxic inferno that shut schools and blanketed Melbourne in smoke.
Almost a year after fire engulfed the Thornycroft St factory, Victoria’s environmental watchdog has laid 10 charges against chemical storage operator Bradbury Industrial Services and its director Paul Anthony Bristow.
The Environment Protection Authority Victoria will allege the source of the fire was the chemical toluene being decanted at the property from a 1000 litre intermediate bulk container into a 60 litre drum without any or adequate control of ignition sources.
The EPA will also allege that chemicals were stored exceeding the licensed limit.
“The resulting fire caused an environmental and human health hazard,” the EPA said in a statement.
“The charges relate to several sections of the Environmental Protection Act 1970.”
Exploding barrels of burning waste were sent flying into the sky when the blaze broke out at Bradbury’s Campbellfield site about 6.40am on April 5 last year.
Two workers were injured and hospitalised as a result of the fire, with one suffering serious burns and the other an eye injury.
More than 175 firefighters and 66 trucks fought the blaze, which took five hours to bring under control.
It took several days to fully extinguish, with a number of schools shut and residents in Broadmeadows, Pascoe Vale and Coburg advised to stay indoors as a dark plume of smoke blanketed the northern suburbs.
“The community has a right to expect that the management of hazardous and industrial waste is done to a high standard that meets regulations,” EPA chief executive Cathy Wilkinson said less than a month before the incident.
It was estimated 450,000 litres of chemical waste were stored at the Thornycroft St site, well beyond the licenced limit of 154,000 litres.
It was working towards compliance when the fire occurred and had reduced its stockpile to an estimated 330,000 litres.
Bradbury Industrial Services went into voluntary administration on July 9 last year.
The company provided storage and disposal services of hazardous and industrial waste and specialised in treating solvent and other waste from paint and related industries.
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A clean up notice was issued to the administrators in August to remove all chemical drums and containers, and liquefied petroleum gas tanks.
The business previously operated under the name Resolve Waste Management.
Several attempts were made to contact Mr Bairstow for comment. The administrator for Bradbury’s was also contacted.
The company and the director will face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on April 1.