EPA infringement notice for RRC asbestos breach
Wingecarribee Shire Council has today accepted the penalty handed down by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) following the processing of construction waste materials that were found to contain asbestos.
The penalty is a result of a small amount of bonded asbestos being detected in recycled aggregate sold from Council’s Resource Recovery Centre (RRC) in mid-2016.
The aggregate was made from building waste including concrete, brick and ceramics which had been disposed of at the RRC.
“First and foremost Council wishes to apologise to our customers of the Resource Recovery Centre,” said Council’s General Manager, Ann Prendergast.
“We know in this instance we failed in our responsibilities and it was an unacceptable incident to have occurred.”
“As a result of the incident Council no longer processes building waste for the purpose of generating recycled aggregate for sale to the general public,” she said.
“We have also implemented more stringent inspection procedures when accepting building waste at the facility.
“Council can also confirm that the properties of all 24 customers that purchased the recycled aggregate have now been fully remediated as per EPA directives and cleared via an independent occupational hygienist,” Ms Prendergast added.
The confirmation comes as the clean-up of the original stockpile of contaminated aggregate at the RRC draws to a conclusion. This clean-up has been overseen and approved by the EPA.
As a result of the breach two penalty notices totalling $23,000 were issued to Council.
Wingecarribee Shire Council thanks the EPA for their assistance and guidance.