Maribyrnong City Council and gas giant BOC are being sued over a West Footscray chemical blaze that was the worst industrial fire in Melbourne in more than two decades.
The lawsuit has been brought by Danbol Pty Ltd, the company that owns the sprawling rented warehouse that had allegedly been illegally packed with hundreds of drums of chemical waste and acetylene gas cylinders before it caught fire and burnt for nearly two weeks in August 2018.
A 2018 industrial fire in West Footscray sent a toxic plume over the city.Credit: MFB
Graham Leslie White, who rented the property through a company called Delacor Pty Ltd, is set to face criminal trial over the circumstances of the fire early next year. White is also due to stand trial over allegedly illegal stockpiles of chemical and industrial waste found at numerous sites around Melbourne and near the town of Kaniva in western Victoria.
Danbol, as the landlord of the property in Somerville Road, West Footscray, claims in its lawsuit that the local council and the alleged source of the cylinders, BOC, were negligent by failing to stop the stockpiling that contributed to the fire’s outbreak.
Lawyers for Danbol are claiming council inspection officers found gas cylinders at the site three weeks before the fire broke out but failed to notify authorities about the presence of the potentially flammable waste at the unlicensed location.
“At all relevant times the council knew that such gas cylinders were potentially hazardous and/or flammable and knew or ought to have known that storing the gas cylinders was itself hazardous, and further that even if empty could represent a potential fire hazard,” the lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court says.
The aftermath of the fire at the West Footscray factory.Credit: Joe Armao
“The council breached its duty of care in that it failed to make appropriate enquiries as to whether or not the gas cylinders contained flammable or hazardous gas; and/or inform all relevant regulatory authorities that the gas cylinders were present at the warehouse.”
Maribyrnong City Council declined to comment because the matter is the subject of legal proceedings.
It remains unclear how many gas cylinders, along with containers of flammable liquid waste, were inside the West Footscray property when it caught fire. The address is also frequently referred to as the suburb of Tottenham.
At a separate site owned by White near the town of Kaniva, Environment Protection Authority clean-up crews have allegedly recovered more than 52,000 gas cylinders.
The lawsuit from Danbol also names BOC Ltd as a party, claiming the company should have been aware that its product was being stored at an allegedly illegal site and potentially unsafely.
BOC also declined to comment on the case because the matter is before the courts.
“BOC remains committed to complying with all applicable laws wherever we operate,” a spokesperson said.
Danbol is registered to Shepparton accountant Christopher James Baldwin, who has business links to the Hells Angels motorcycle club.
The Age does not suggest Baldwin has done anything illegal.
Baldwin was once a partner in a now-defunct accountancy firm with Melbourne Hells Angels East County chapter bosses Peter “Skitzo” Hewat and Stephen “Stiffy” Rogers.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.