Former owner of Victorian tyre stockpile at Stawell charged
THE former owner and director of a tyre stockpile in regional Victoria is facing fines of nearly $1.5 million after being charged with breaching environmental protection rules.
THE former owner and director of a tyre stockpile in regional Victoria is facing fines of nearly $1.5 million after being charged with breaching environmental protection rules.
The Used Tyre Recycling Corporation and its director Matthew Starr are charged with two breaches of an Environmental Protection Authority statutory notice ordering the huge pile of used rubber be removed.
The environment watchdog last year spent about $5 million to remove about one million tyres from the Stawell yard after what it said were repeated failures by the site’s owners to address the problem.
The stockpile had been abandoned or at least handled in a way that was likely to cause environmental damage, particularly if it caught fire, the EPA said.
It previously told the Victorian Supreme Court UTRC transferred the property to the Panama-based company, Internet Marketing Solutions Corp, in March 2017.
IMSC subsequently lost its bid to stop the EPA from cleaning up the site. UTRC and Dr Starr each face fines of up to $746,208 for charges of breaching an EPA statutory notice.
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