by Violet Li
The Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) launched civil proceedings against Cranbourne tip operator Stevensons Brothers Industries (SBI) Landfill Pty Ltd and its directors on 4 August 2023.
The lingering odour from its Cranbourne site has haunted the community since March 2022.
EPA alleged that SBI Landfill did not follow the requirements of its operating license and did not meet its General Environmental Duty because of the prolonged impacts the landfill odour was having on residents.
If successful in proving these breaches, EPA will seek a range of relief from the Court including declarations, injunctions, civil penalties, and a range of orders addressing compliance and operations at the site.
Penalties could exceed $1.8 million for the company and $360,000 for directors for each allegation.
EPA is also asking the court to issue interim orders to stop the site from accepting waste until it prevents unacceptable impacts on community health and the environment.
The legal action tailed the agency’s withdrawal of criminal proceedings against the company.
On 4 October 2022, the EPA charged SBI Landfill with breaching section 63(1) of the Environment Protection Act 2017 and withdrew the charge on 17 March 2023, claiming that the launching of civil proceedings would have a greater potential to effect change than pursuing allegations against SBI through the criminal courts.
SBI Landfill started to operate the solid inert landfill on Ballarto Road in Cranbourne in March 2020 and commenced waste management services for the building and construction industry in November 2021.
EPA first received complaints of a rotten egg smell in March 2022.
The source of the odour is SBI’s sole landfill cell, and the rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulphide (H2S), which can be produced when solid inert waste decomposes.
EPA discovered that insufficient cover over construction and demolition waste at the landfill allowed rainwater to flow through and pool underneath the landfill. This increased the amount of odorous trace gases, which SBI failed to manage.
SBI removed the site’s stagnant water to an off-site location in Dandenong in July, but the smell did not go away afterwards.
Further issues were identified, including potential hotspots in the landfill cell, one or more blockages in the leachate management infrastructure, lack of an appropriate Risk Management and Monitoring Program (RMMP), and management faults of landfill gas extraction.
EPA’s monitoring of daily odour reports from 1 March 2022 to 18 October 2023 has shown that residents have been impacted every month on multiple dates since the inception of the saga, with a spike of almost 260 reports a day in July 2022.
The number of reports dropped substantially in 2023 with less than ten reports each month for the past few months.
EPA fined SBI Landfill $9246 for failing to immediately notify the agency of equipment failure at its Cranbourne site in July 2023 which caused an odour incident, a few weeks after the commencement of civil proceedings.
Two fire incidents occurred on site in November 2023. Police investigations have been continuing with the fires, but it was advised the causes pointed to arson.
Residents have been concerned about the security of the landfill as most of the frontage to Ballarto Road is not fenced. EPA has been investigating the security status of the site since.
EPA is still awaiting a date for their court case against SBI.
