The Central Goldfields Shire Council has blamed illegal rubbish dumping for the situation that led to Country Fire Authority members being exposed to asbestos during a controlled burn.
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CFA crews were asked by the shire to do a planned burn on a rubbish pile at the former Penney and Lang abattoirs site, in Madmans Lane, Flagstaff in June.
However a day later, asbestos-accredited crews were called in to clean up the charred remains – pictures of which were sent to the Bendigo Advertiser – and a subsequent investigation by the Environment Protection Authority confirmed asbestos was present in the material.
The shire was fined $7929 for the incident by the EPA, who did not prosecute the council for breaching the Environment Protection Act.
In a report, which will be presented at a council meeting on Tuesday, the shire’s interim CEO Vince Haining admitted the burn off was “ill advised and poorly executed”.
“The history shows that when the council acquired the site it removed asbestos from the site. However there was a period when the site was not within the control of the council and it appears that is when the cement sheeting was dumped on the site,” the report read.
The report also states the council in February 2016 became aware of waste being dumped on the site, pursued the contractor and had the contractor clean up what he had dumped.
A month later, council advised another contractor to not dump pallets at the site.
The shire believes building waste was illegally added to the pile of timber pallets and green waste – which had been legitimately deposited on the site by a contractor with permission of the then licensee of the site – without the knowledge of council.
The amount of asbestos contained in the concrete sheets is unclear as the EPA refused to release the report into the investigation due to privacy issues.
However Mr Haining, via the report, stated: “It is apparent that while there was cement sheet present, the risk to the public and CFA officers appears to have been very low.”
In announcing the results of the investigation, EPA north west manager Scott Pigdon said the shire failed to conduct “a thorough assessment” of the waste materials before they were burnt.
“The industrial waste that was burnt contained various wastes, but fibrous cement sheeting found on site was later confirmed to contain asbestos,” he said last month.
“EPA expects that all waste is disposed to an appropriate licensed or permitted facility and doesn’t tolerate the inappropriate burning of industrial waste materials.”
Dr Pigdon said fires involving asbestos-containing material do not cause a risk to health for people in the surrounding area.
The shire’s former mayor Geoff Lovett in August told the Bendigo Advertiser council staff led members of the Carisbrook CFA to believe the waste pile did not contain asbestos.
Mr Lovett also said a risk assessment was not conducted on the mound at the former abattoirs site.
“There was no risk assessment done and I find that absolutely appalling,” he said at the time.
“I’m very, very concerned about the processes we didn’t follow.”
It is apparent that while there was cement sheet present, the risk to the public and CFA officers appears to have been very low.
- Central Goldifelds Shire Council interim CEO Vince Haining
Mr Haining also detailed the extent of the shire’s investigation into the burn off, which included interviewing all staff who had been involved in the management of the site and provided a draft response to the EPA for management consideration.
“A key aspect of council’s investigation was the legal question of causation,” Mr Haining stated.
“That is did council cause the contaminated material to be present on the site. The investigation demonstrated that the site had been cleared up previously and that it was likely to have been illegal dumping of material (occurring whilst the site was under lease to a third party) which caused the contaminated material to be present. .
“Moreover the records demonstrate that council took reasonable actions during its period of control of the site to secure it and to prevent the risk of dumping from occurring.
“Council did not permit hazardous material to be dumped and had no established knowledge of such hazards.”
As part of the investigation, an independent technical expert reviewed the operational arrangements and decision making around this event.
The recommendations presented to council’s audit committee include; improvement to record keeping, use of process checklists, and the need for multiple agency checking prior to initiating such activities.
Meanwhile, the shire has responded to an investigation from the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate – which detailed extensive extensive financial and governance failures by the shire – leading to the state government sacking the council in August.
A 37-point action plan includes appointing a property officer, developing a policy for property sales and leases to ensure procedure for property matters and to review its credit card processes, policies and procedures.
The shire’s former CEO Mark Johnston is facing 67 criminal charges relating to obtaining a financial advantage by deception for alleged misuse of a corporate credit card and five charges of false accounting, among others.
Mr Johnston resigned in August.
