EPA fines southwest Victorian farm over unburied cattle

A farm in southwest Victoria has been whacked with a four-figure fine for failing to bury dead cattle.

A dozen cattle corpses left to rot in the field have led to a southwest Victorian farm being slapped with a four-figure fine.

The Environment Protection Authority issued Sunday Ridge Dairies Pty Ltd with a $5452 fine for failing to comply with a requirement of an EPA remedial notice.

EPA southwest regional manager Carolyn Francis said dead livestock could create a hazard to human health if disposal was not done properly.

“Decaying animal carcasses can spread disease and contaminate the land and nearby waterways, which affects the community at large and especially neighbouring farms,” Ms Francis said.

“In this case, EPA officers found 12 dead stock that had been left unburied and were in varying states of decomposition.”

EPA officers had already issued the company, based in the Simpson district, with a remedial notice requiring that the dead stock be removed for disposal or properly buried.

“The fact that the dead stock had been left unburied, some of them for a considerable amount of time, was not only a breach of that duty and a hazard to the environment, but something any landholder downstream would not appreciate,” Ms Francis said.

“Most farms have the equipment to do the job, there’s advice on the EPA website and there are plenty of contractors who will take dead stock away or bury them if needed.”