Dandenong Ranges: petition for CCTV call to catch rubbish dumpers
More than 800 people have backed a call for authorities to take urgent action and install cameras to catch who is illegally dumping suspected toxic drums.
Outer East
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Worried bushwalkers and firefighters are calling for authorities to install CCTV cameras to catch those dumping toxic drums close to the popular 1000 Steps.
Emergency services were called to a section of the Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd in Upper Ferntree Gully three times this month to remove 21 chemical drums.
Yarra Ranges homeowner and firefighter David Musk has started a petition, which has so far attracted 802 signatures, calling on authorities to use surveillance cameras to monitor illegal dumping.
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Crews from Upper Ferntree Gully CFA, Upwey, Hallam, Dandenong and the Ranges Group were involved in removing the barrels.
Upper Ferntree Gully’s captain Peter Smith said the barrels removed on October 7 were the same type as those removed seven days previously, which he said had “very, very bad” stuff inside.
He said walkers had reported the drums, which had been dumped down the road embankment into the National Park.
“It’s exactly the same chemicals as before,” Mr Smith said.
“It’s a scare for me as a local resident.
“I hope we don’t find any more.”
A Parks Victoria spokesman said multiple cases of illegal dumping in the Dandenong Ranges National Park were being investigated.
“The contents of the barrels are unknown at this stage but there does not appear to have been any spillage,” he said.
Mr Musk said there was often mattresses, couches and other rubbish dumped along the stretch of road from the Devils Elbow to near the service station in Tremont.
He said illegal dumping of rubbish was a crime and could lead to court penalties of up to $610,7000 for an individual and $1.2 million for a corporation.
Boronia police Sergeant Dean Sprunt said police were investigating and anyone with information should phone police or Crime Stoppers.
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Department of Transport spokeswoman Lauren Hilbert said in the last year VicRoads logged 118 rubbish pick-ups along Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd.
Ms Hilbert said these included objects falling from vehicles, rubbish thrown from cars and deliberately dumped waste.
In the past 12 months we have spent about $1.2 million across Melbourne to remove dumped rubbish from roadside reserves, she said.
Ms Hilbert said with Yarra Ranges Council and the EPA, VicRoads was investigating ways to deter rubbish dumping along that road.