A Western Sydney-based waste storage facility and its sole director, Mr Michael Calleija, have been fined over $330,000 for failing to comply with two prevention notices by continuing to accept truckloads of waste after they were ordered to stop.
The EPA issued Budget Waste Pty Ltd (Budget Waste) with a prevention notice on 25 May 2022 after an inspection of the Arndell Park premises revealed a range of potential licence breaches, including excessively large and tall waste stockpiles at the site.
The prevention notices ordered the company to stop accepting waste on-site immediately and to survey the volume and height of waste stockpiles before operations could resume.
NSW EPA Executive Director of Operations, Jason Gordon said the EPA commenced the prosecution last year after the company and its director were found to have deliberately ignored directions in the initial prevention notice and in a supplementary notice issued in November 2022.
“The actions of Budget Waste and Mr Calleija demonstrated a blatant disregard for environmental law,” Mr Gordon said.
“The prevention notice issued in May clearly instructed Budget Waste to stop accepting waste at their facility, but they continued to do so for another seven months and only stopped after we issued a supplementary prevention notice,” Mr Gordon said.
“Mr Calleija also refused to undertake a mandatory survey of the volume of waste and its layout on the premises, which was a specific direction of the prevention notice and essential for normal operations to resume.
"This judgment is a win for environmental integrity and every responsible business and individual that complies with the law. It reinforces our message that those who dismiss environmental regulations will be held accountable."
The Land and Environment Court convicted and fined Budget Waste and Mr Calleija $334,000 for three offences. They have been ordered to publish the offences and judgment details in the Sydney Morning Herald and Inside Waste and must pay the EPA’s legal costs.
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