Background

Bradbury Industrial Services Pty Ltd had operated a solvent waste treatment facility at 16–18 Thornycroft Street, Campbellfield since 2014.

Following a large industrial fire in April 2019, EPA used powers under the Environment Protection Act 1970 in August 2020 to intervene and start a cleanup of the site. EPA took steps to make sure no further offsite harm could come to the local environment or the community.

It is estimated there was about 5,000m³ of burnt chemical waste, an unstable office structure and building material remaining on the site. It included sludge, concrete, steel and other material.

We worked with Fire Rescue Victoria, WorkSafe Victoria, Yarra Valley Water and Melbourne Water to ensure a coordinated approach to keeping the community and environment safe throughout the cleanup.

We finalised post cleanup soil and stormwater testing of the site in February 2022. Testing showed we have removed the risk to human health and the environment from the site and it is now fit for industrial land use. We’ve therefore removed all contractors and security from the site.

The duty holder of the site is ASIC, who is responsible for maintaining the site in accordance with the obligations under the Environment Protection Act 2017.

We’d like to thank local businesses and members of the community for their patience during cleanup works.

Cleanup works

We started cleanup works in March 2021 and removed all waste from the site in December 2021.

We removed about 5974 tonnes of waste from the site during the cleanup. This included about 2000 tonnes of concrete, which we recycled.

To prevent any offsite water contamination, we cut off all exit points to sewer and storm water during the works. An onsite wastewater treatment plant treated and discharged wastewater to the sewer. The treatment plant captured, treated and discharged bout 1.9 million litres of stormwater.

The main contractor onsite, Symal, had an independent consultant assess the site. All information provided to EPA identifies that the site no longer poses an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment.

Fire Rescue Victoria, Worksafe and Hume City Council also inspected the site throughout the cleanup.

Security remained at the site 24/7 during the cleanup.

Cleanup works included:

• completion of risk planning and methodology documentation, including regular site visits from an occupational hygienist, fire engineer and environmental consultant
• demolition and removal of remaining fire damaged buildings and infrastructure
• assessment and removal of waste, residual vessels and dangerous goods
• demolition and removal of the site’s concrete slab and removal of contaminated soil
• drainage works.

Once we removed all waste we spread a layer of cement-treated crushed rock across the site. This crushed rock will supress dust and minimise vegetation growth.

The site before the cleanup  in December 2020.

 

The site in November 2021, after we removed all waste.

Disposal of waste

We sampled and categorised all waste removed from the site, to make sure it was handled correctly and disposed of at an appropriately-licensed facility.

We tracked all waste to its destination.

Cost of the cleanup

EPA policy reflects a zero-tolerance approach to poor fire risk practices at recycling and treatment facilities.

EPA laid charges against Bradbury on 16 March 2020 for various alleged breaches of the Environment Protection Act 1970. These matters are currently before the courts.

Cleanup of the site cost about $6.5 million.

Next steps

We will continue to assess legal options, including the possible sale of land, to recoup the cost of the cleanup.