Sydney man sentenced for waste offences on the Hawkesbury River
The Land and Environment Court has fined a Sydney man $100,000 after he pleaded guilty to three environmental offences at a property on the banks of the Hawkesbury River near the small town of Spencer, NSW.
The man was prosecuted by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for dumping about 21,000 tonnes of concrete, car parts, timber, plastic and asbestos. The EPA charged the man with offences of land pollution, unlawfully transporting waste and using the property as a waste facility.
The EPA alleged the offences occurred over the course of approximately 15 months between February 2015 and May 2016.
EPA Executive Director Regulatory Operations Carmen Dwyer said the EPA, in coordination with Gosford Council, were responsible for the individual being investigated and prosecuted.
“Following a thorough investigation by the EPA, the perpetrator has been brought to account for his actions”, Ms Dwyer said.
In addition to the $100,000 in fines, the Defendant was ordered to pay the EPA’s investigation costs of $80,000 and its legal costs.
The EPA has also issued the Sydney man with a clean-up notice which requires him to take steps to remediate the Property to remove the risk of ongoing harm to the environment.
Ms Dwyer said the consequences of committing waste offences such as these were abundantly clear.
“Rules and regulations around how to manage waste materials are clear and designed to reduce risks associated to the environment and the community.
“If you don’t dispose of waste correctly, there will be consequences.”
Prosecutions are one of a number of tools the EPA can use to achieve environmental compliance including formal warnings, official cautions, licence conditions, notices and directions. For more information about the EPA’s regulatory tools, see the EPA Compliance Policy at www.epa.nsw.gov.au/legislation/prosguid.htm