Numurkah tyre site cleanup completed

Published on 26 February 2019

EPA and tyres.jpg

Work to safely remove the Numurkah tyre pile has now been completed by Moira Shire Council, with the support of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).

The work began in December 2018 and up to eight trucks a day have taken approximately 5,000 tonnes of waste tyres for shredding and recycling at an Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) licensed facility in Melbourne.
Mayor Libro Mustica said the EPA’s December decision to use its powers to address the public and environmental risks associated with the site was a welcome one as “for the past six years we have pursued all legal avenues to force the site owner to remove the tyres”.

“The EPA, council and the Numurkah community were very aware of the public health, safety and environmental risks associated with the site,” Cr Mustica said.
“These concerns were underscored by the CFA’s fire risk assessment in 2018 that rated the risk of fire as extreme and the consequences as catastrophic.”
Cr Mustica said the tyres from Numurkah were being recycled at an EPA-licenced facility in Melbourne for use in the construction, manufacturing and automotive industries, in products such as athletics tracks, brake pads, new tyres and road surfaces.

“The completion of tyre site clean-ups keeps a commitment we made to the Numurkah community – to remove an environmental hazard and threat to the residents and businesses of the town,” he said.
“There are many people who have worked together to produce such a fantastic result and they all deserve recognition and thanks.
“Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio and EPA CEO Cathy Wilkinson have been strong supporters of this clean-up project.

“EPA staff members Katrina Newton, Scott Jones, Di Joyce, Emma Knights and John Dahlenburg; Tyrecycle staff Jason McGuirk, Jason Campbell and Clinton Habner; O’Loughlins Excavations staff Jono Kerrins and Ken Bickham, Mahoney’s Transport and Moira Shire Council General Manager Community Sally Rice and officers Rick Devlin, Graham Dickie, Jackie Miller, Dave Roberts and Jackson Tennant as well as our CEO Mark Henderson and my fellow councillors have all contributed to the safe and swift clean-up of the Numurkah tyre site – congratulations and thank you one and all.”

 

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