Veolia Environmental Services (Veolia) has been fined $48,000 by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for multiple licence breaches at its Woodlawn Landfill near Tarago.
The fines were issued across four penalty notices, including one $45,000 penalty for failing to apply daily cover material to landfill waste and three $1,000 penalties for failing to publish required landfill gas extraction data on three occasions.
NSW EPA Executive Director of Operations Stephen Beaman said this regulatory action forms part of an escalating EPA response to ongoing environmental performance issues at the landfill.
“We’ve been conducting frequent inspections of the landfill since late March, after an EPA investigation identified significant issues with the site’s landfill gas and leachate management systems,” Mr Beaman said.
“During several inspections, EPA officers observed extensive areas of exposed waste across the landfill slopes, with evidence that daily cover material was not being consistently applied.
“This is particularly concerning because daily cover is both a fundamental landfill management practice and a requirement of the site’s licence. Veolia is aware of this, and the community is entitled to expect better environmental performance from a licensed facility of this nature.”
Mr Beaman said the EPA had also acted over Veolia’s failure to publish landfill gas extraction data, despite previously reminding the company about its monitoring and reporting obligations.
“Monitoring and reporting requirements are not optional. They’re essential licence conditions that demonstrate whether environmental controls are operating effectively.
“The failure to publish this information over multiple months points to ongoing compliance issues rather than a one-off administrative oversight.”
The fines follow a Prevention Notice issued to Veolia in early April, which required the company to undertake a range of actions to address deficiencies in the landfill’s gas capture and leachate management systems.
Mandatory actions required under the Prevention Notice are intended to improve the overall environmental performance of the landfill and minimise ongoing odour impacts on the surrounding community.
The EPA continues to closely monitor compliance at the site and will take further regulatory action where necessary.
