The owner of a Wimmera property will face court next month, charged with 55 offences under the Dangerous Goods Act over warehouses he occupies in Melbourne.
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Graham Leslie White, 58, owns a 1400-hectare property at Lemon Springs, south of Kaniva, on which the Environmental Protection Authority says 20 dump sites of suspected industrial waste are buried underground.
On Monday December 23, Worksafe Victoria said Mr White would face 11 offences of illegal stockpiling of dangerous goods for each of the five properties he owned in Epping and Campbellfield, in Melbourne's north.
In a statement, the authority alleged "White failed at each site to take all reasonable precautions to prevent any fire or explosion of dangerous goods in his ownership, control or possession, or neglected to dispose of them safely.
"White also faces aggravated charges for each site of failing to take reasonable precautions against fire or explosion despite knowing this failure could endanger the safety or health of people, property or the environment.
"WorkSafe further alleges that White failed to reduce or eliminate the risks associated with the storage of dangerous goods at each site and the risks associated with reactions between the dangerous goods and other substances at each premises.
"He is also accused of breaching regulations on placarding, fire protection, spill containment, keeping a prescribed manifest and of failing to notify the Victorian WorkCover Authority of the presence of an excess quantity of dangerous goods at each site."
The matters are listed for a filing mention in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on January 17.
A Worksafe Victoria spokesman said the authority's inquiries into the Wimmera property were ongoing.
At the start of December, the EPA took over management of the Lemon Springs site, after Mr White failed to respond to a show-cause notice. It followed the authority issuing him with a clean-up notice requiring he secure the site, install signage and not excavate any of the dump sites.
The authority has said the 20 dump sites at Lemon Springs could contain up to 8000 cubic metres of solid and liquid waste. It is awaiting results of analysis of samples from excavated containers to determine the type of waste.
The authority has previously stated physical works on the Lemon Springs property will be limited over summer.
"In addition, the Country Fire Authority has directed EPA to not undertake high-risk activities onsite during severe, extreme and total fire ban days," a statement on its website reads.
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