Charge:

1. Failed to minimise risk to environment at Burwood on 06 July 2021, contrary to s.25(1).

The accused operates a commercial grounds maintenance and landscape construction company. They were engaged by Mount Scopus Memorial College (MSMC) to provide and manage the maintenance of their grounds in Burwood.

On 6 July 2023, EPA received a series of pollution reports alleging a blue/green discolouration in Gardiners Creek, Burwood. EPA Officers attended and observed a blue liquid discharging into the creek from a stormwater pipe which they traced to the premises of MSMC.

The accused had sprayed a combination of a turf pigment and fungicide using a trailed sprayer to the ovals on the premises and subsequently washed out the sprayer and deposited the wash water into a stormwater pit in the maintenance area.

The safety material data sheets for the two substances indicated that the substances should not enter stormwater. The safety data sheet for the Azoxystrobin Fungicide stated it was 'highly toxic to aquatic life'.

The accused failed, so far as reasonably practicable, to ensure that the substances were handled/used in a manner that minimises the risk of harm to the environment. It was reasonably practicable for the accused to minimise the risk of harm to the environment by becoming informed of the relevant drainage system and ensuring:

a) the waste would not enter storm water; or

b) the waste would be directed to a sewer system or to a place licenced to accept that type of waste.

It was likely that the discharge of the chemicals into Gardiners Creek caused harm to some organisms living in the creek. The extent of that harm, however, is not possible to determine.