A skip hire company, operating on the Australian Gold Coast, has been told to clean up or pay up after being accused of running an illegal landfill site the size of two football pitches!
Pro Skips have been hit with an environmental protection order, by The Environmental Protection Agency, for stockpiling an alleged 50,000 tonnes of waste – as well as burying waste – at their waste transfer station on Rudman Parade industrial site in Burleigh.
Andrew Connor, an EPA spokesman, said that the company had now been given two weeks to comply with the clean-up order, or face a fine of up to $750,000 (that’s about £365,000).
Failure to act would also see the owner hit with a further fine of $150,000 (£73,000) or face a two year jail sentence.
Pro Skips hold a waste removal license which permits them to drop and collect skips at construction sites, deposit recyclable waste at a transfer station and take all non-recyclable waste at a council landfill site, paying the appropriate fee.
According to the EPA, the company is failing to meet the last of these conditions.
Mr Connor said: “All businesses must undertake responsible waste management and disposal...the EPA has an obligation to take action where companies are clearly flouting environmental laws. Inappropriate management of waste may pose a hazard to both local communities and the environment and will not be tolerated.”
The size of two football pitches, hey? Perhaps Pro Skips might like to re-locate to the UK? I can think of at least two football clubs where they’re already ‘stockpiling waste’ all over the pitch and $750,000 is just the daily wage bill...!
