Shane Matthew Blight pleads guilty to dumping asbestos at popular conservation park in Adelaide’s south

A man says he was forced to dump tonnes of asbestos in a conservation park when his truck got stuck doing a U-turn. But a judge says she’s “not satisfied” with his story.

A man who claims he was forced to dump tonnes of asbestos in a conservation park when his truck became stuck has been fined after a judge rejected his story.

Shane Matthew Blight, 38, appeared in the Environment Court on Tuesday in front of Judge Joana Fuller after pleading guilty to one count of disposing of Class A hazardous litter.

He dumped more than four tonnes of building material that contained asbestos down a steep embankment in Kyeema Conservation Park, the court heard, after his truck became stuck.

On Christmas Eve in 2022, Blight had been informally contracted to demolish a residential property in Adelaide’s south and was assured there was no asbestos on site, the court heard.

It heard he had no training in the identification or removal of asbestos.

“Your counsel told me you had intended to take the load back to Victor Harbor and leave it at premises in Victor Harbor, the details and ownership of which you were not prepared to divulge,” Judge Fuller said.

“I infer, and there is no suggestion to the contrary, that that place was not a licensed facility.”

While driving his truck back to Victor Harbor, Blight’s defence counsel said he took a wrong turn on to Woodgate Hill Rd in Kyeema and while attempting to perform a U-turn, the truck became stuck.

“You telephoned Aldinga Towing to assist you and you sent photos that you had taken of the immobilised truck,” Judge Fuller said.

“Those photographs show that the tray of the truck was full at the time of the photographs.

“At about 7.30pm on December 24, 2022, you were seen shovelling debris from the truck. When Aldinga Towing arrived in the evening, half of the material in the truck had been unloaded.

“The load needed to be removed from the truck to allow the truck to be towed from the road verge. You were responsible for the removal of the litter from the truck, which included the off-white cement sheet of asbestos, which was a Class A hazardous item.”

Prosecution alleged that on January 4, Alexandrina Council officers found the disposed asbestos.

They further alleged Blight “did nothing” to inform the authorities of his illegal actions.

“Whether you went to that location in order to dump the material and became stuck whilst doing so, or you became stuck and then had to dump the material, you never had any intention of notifying the authorities that there had been an unlawful dumping of litter,” Judge Fuller said.

“No reasonable excuse has been offered for that failure and I infer and find that you had no intention of informing the authorities that this had occurred.

“On the facts agreed before me, I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that your truck became stuck in the course of executing a U-turn when you took a wrong turn on your way to Victor Harbor.”

Blight was issued a fine of more than $9000 and ordered to pay nearly $22,000 in compensation to reimburse the costs incurred by council.

Originally published as Shane Matthew Blight pleads guilty to dumping asbestos at popular conservation park in Adelaide’s south