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Graham Leslie White facing 55 charges over toxic waste dumping

A businessman allegedly linked to a huge toxic blaze at West Footscray factory and widespread illegal dumping has been hit with 55 charges.

White is also linked to a West Footscray factory where a massive fire broke out last year. Picture: Nicole Garmston
White is also linked to a West Footscray factory where a massive fire broke out last year. Picture: Nicole Garmston

A businessman allegedly linked to a huge toxic blaze and widespread illegal dumping has been hit with 55 charges.

Graham Leslie White, 58, faces counts under the Dangerous Goods Act related to five sites where a total of six million litres of waste has been cleared by authorities.

The charges, laid by WorkSafe, concern four properties in Epping and one in Campbellfield.

Mr White is accused of failing to “take all reasonable precautions to prevent any fire or explosion of dangerous goods in his ownership, control or possession, or neglected to dispose of them safely.”

Worksafe will also allege he did not take reasonable precautions against fire or explosion, despite knowing this could endanger the safety or health of people, property or the environment.

He will also face allegations he did not reduce or eliminate the risks associated with the storage of dangerous goods at each site and the risks associated with reactions between dangerous goods and other substances.

Mr White will also face counts he breached placarding, fire protection and spill containment regulations and that he did not keep a prescribed manifest and failed to notify the Victorian WorkCover Authority of the presence of an excess quantity of dangerous goods at each site.

The stockpiles were found in January as part of Environment Protection Authority and WorkSafe investigations.

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The sites over which White faces charges have now been emptied of waste chemicals totalling more than six million litres.

WorkSafe said the matters against Mr White were listed for a filing mention in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 17 January, 2020.

Mr White is also linked to a West Footscray factory where a massive fire broke out last year.

He had a lease on the premises where he was carrying out a lucrative contract to restore gas bottles.

Toxic smoke, visible from as far away as Geelong, bellowed from the premises at the height of the blaze.

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/graham-leslie-white-facing-55-charges-over-toxic-waste-dumping/news-story/8cf9fc98a173bd0b55e039f3a7891144