Waste crackdown: Authorities seize more illegal chemical dumps

Four more illegal chemical dumps in the city’s north have been taken over by authorities in a bid to stop potential waste inferno traps in the suburbs.

Authorities have seized more illegal waste dumps, following a factory fire at Campbellfield earlier this month. Picture: Tony Gough

Another four illegal chemical dumps in Melbourne’s north have been taken over by authorities as Victoria ramps up its crackdown on potential waste inferno traps hiding in the suburbs.

WorkSafe says it has taken over three illegal waste dumps at Craigieburn and one at Campbellfield, a month after the occupier was ordered to make them safe.

It’s unclear exactly how much waste is being stored at the sites but WorkSafe says they have a combined capacity of 11 million litres.

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A chemical fire at Bradbury Industrial Services, Campbellfield sent toxic fumes spewing over Melbourne earlier this month. Picture: Tony Gough

It comes as a glass recycling company at Coolaroo was banned from accepting waste following two recent fires at the northern suburbs site.

The Glass Recovery Services site is being investigated by the state’s Environment Protection Authority for not complying with an earlier notice to remove combustible waste.

“The company’s stockpiles are in breach of the Waste Management Policy and it cannot receive further combustible waste at the site until EPA is satisfied it has regained compliance,” the EPA’s Danny Childs said in a statement.

“A large volume of glass waste it has received at the site has been contaminated with other types of waste, such as mixed plastics and paper and has resulted in an increased fire risk.”

The factory fire at Campbellfield took days to fully extinguish. Picture: Alex Coppel

The renewed crackdown on waste dumped illegally at suburban factories comes after Bradbury Industrial Services at Campbellfield went up in flames in the early hours of April 5.

It was the latest in a string of waste fires, with one at Coolaroo in 2017 and another at West Footscray last year.

This month’s Campbellfield blaze left a worker injured and spewed smoke over surrounding suburbs, causing schools to shut, and homes and businesses to be evacuated.

Explosions sent 44-gallon drums flying high into the air over the Campbellfield factory fire. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The Bradbury Industrial Services factory is not one of the four taken over by WorkSafe from last week.

The removal of chemicals from the Craigieburn and Campbellfield warehouses is expected to take months, but will occur under 24-hour security, atmospheric monitoring and spill containment measures.

WorkSafe took control of eight similar illegal waste sites found at Epping and Campbellfield late last year.

So far more than 1.7 million litres of chemicals — including flammable liquids such as paints, solvents and inks — have been removed, with one at Epping completely cleared.

Waste removal is underway at another two of the eight sites, and preparation works at others.

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Chemical waste in Victoria will be GPS tracked to keep a tighter control on the sector.

The EPA will invest $5.5 million to switch to a fully GPS electronic tracking system from July.

“The introduction of a fully electronic waste transport certificate system will enable EPA to better track the movement of waste by providing improved quality data, helping us to detect potential risks and intervene earlier,” chief executive Cathy Wilkinson said in a statement.

The authority currently uses a mix of electronic and paper waste transport certificates, with paper ones accounting for 100,000 certificates a year, and those will now be phased out.

Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the move would crack down on the illegal storage of hazardous waste and increase community safety.

Over the next 12 months, an integrated waste tracking tool will be developed to identify trends and highlight potential illegal activity in the sector.

— with AAP