The Yarrowee Plantation has again been identified as an illegal rubbish dumping hotspot, much to the disgust of Mount Clear residents.
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Ebony Gallina discovered a large dump of household rubbish while taking her dog for a walk near Frenchman’s Lane on Friday morning.
She said the ‘disgusting’ dump of clothes, household waste, wood, mattresses and tyres looked like it had been there for weeks.
City of Ballarat infrastructure and environment director Terry Demeo said the bush area near Mt Clear was a known rubbish dumping area.
City of Ballarat had last received notification of rubbish being dumped on this site in February.
“The City of Ballarat plans to continue discouraging environmental vandals by working more closely with surrounding landowners of known rubbish dumping hot spots,” Mr Demeo said.
“Our street cleaning teams and local law area will also be doing further work around rubbish dumping prevention.
“Everyone is responsible for waste management and caring for our environment, so we don’t pollute our natural landscapes.”
Council is responsible for removing dumped rubbish at the ratepayers expense in instances where an offender cannot be located and the rubbish is dumped on council land.
Local councils across the state spend around $30 million every year cleaning up abandoned waste.
The Environmental Protection Authority is targeting rubbish dumpers through its Illegal Dumping Strike Force.
The authority recognises Illegal dumping can threaten wildlife and can lead to long-term contamination of land, waterways and groundwater.
The dumping of household or industrial waste on a site that is not licensed to accept it is an offence under the Environment Protection Act 1970 and can attract a fine of $7929, or considerably more if the case goes to court.
You can report illegal dumping to the EPA on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC).
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