Court orders Director to pay $460,000 for asbestos pollution crimes

The conviction comes after Mr Afram’s business charged $4 million to remove 17,600 tonnes of soil containing asbestos waste and restricted solid waste from the Green Square development site in inner Sydney in 2016 - 2017.

The waste material was meant to be taken to the Suez landfill at Kemps Creek and the Bowral Landfill site, which were both licensed to accept the waste.

An end-of-project waste disposal audit of the Green Square building site by environmental consultants revealed inconsistencies in weighbridge dockets and invoices.

This led to an investigation by the EPA, which found none of the waste had been taken to either of the lawful landfill sites.

Instead, it was illegally dumped elsewhere.

Some of the building waste was used, without the knowledge of the landowners, by Mr Afram as part of a contract to build a road on a privately owned semi-rural property in Kulnura. Other waste was taken to a property in Horsley Park.

The court fined Mr Afram a total of $240,000 comprised of:

• $112,500 for three false and misleading information offences
• $127,500 for the pollution of land offence

Mr Afram was also ordered to pay the EPA’s legal costs of $95,000 and investigation costs of $125,001.

The Court imposed a publication order, ordering Mr Afram to publicise details of the offence in both the Daily Telegraph and Inside Waste Magazine.

In a linked case, Mr Afram was convicted in the District Court for a fraud offence brought by police relating to the same false and misleading conduct. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment served by way of an intensive correction order.

For more information about the EPA’s regulatory tools, see the EPA Compliance Policy at http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/legislation/prosguid.htm.