A company that allowed concrete dust and slurry to escape onto a west Melbourne street causing a potentially serious environmental incident has been fined $3,698 by Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA).
In March this year, EPA officers attended the Sim St, Footscray premises of Holcim (Australia Pty Ltd) and saw trucks leaving the site and tracking the slurry along Sim St and into Dynon Rd.
“That mix of concrete slurry and dust was seen on nearby cars, along the roads and kerbs and any rain event would wash that down the storm drains and then out to the Maribyrnong River where there would have been further damage done,” said EPA West Metro Regional Manager Steve Lansdell.
“Concrete had solidified on kerbsides and will affect that local area for some time. The Holcim website has many examples of where the company prides itself on being a good corporate citizen and points to multiple environmental and community projects. It wasn’t living up to its website. We expect them to lift their game and we will be monitoring their future performance.
“It’s everyone’s duty to act to prevent harm to the environment and Holcim was not doing that. If EPA officers had not been so quick to act, we could have seen a far worse outcome.
“EPA has issued an Environmental Action Notice that requires the company to install further controls by 6 June 2023 to prevent this from happening again.”
