Footscray factory lease holder Graham White charged over 2018 inferno
A businessman linked to a West Footscray factory that was destroyed in a mammoth blaze in 2018 has now been charged with endangering the safety of firefighters.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A businessman linked to a West Footscray factory that was destroyed in a massive inferno has been charged with endangering the safety of firefighters.
The industrial fire in August 2018 burnt through drums full of chemicals and blanketed parts of the city’s west in black smoke.
The man who had the lease for the site, Graham Leslie White, 59, has been accused by WorkSafe of engaging in conduct that placed, or may have placed, people in danger of serious injury.
It is alleged Mr White stored dangerous goods at the Somerville Rd factory without taking reasonable precautions to prevent any fire or explosion.
WorkSafe said on Wednesday the charges against Mr White related to the West Footscray site and three other warehouses in Campellfield, in Melbourne’s north.
At each site, it’s alleged Mr White failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent leakage of dangerous goods and failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent damage to property or danger to the public incurred by an accident involving dangerous goods.
Among the charges was that he knew, or ought to have known, that each of his failings would likely endanger the safety or health of another person, property or the environment.
The matters are due to be heard at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 14.
It is the latest action taken by authorities against Mr White after the Environment Protection Authority laid 12 charges in March relating to criminal stockpiling.
MORE NEWS
FACTORY FIRE: TOXIC DUMP CLEAN-UP STILL MONTHS AWAY