Ace Demolition and Excavation Pty Ltd employee Munaf Al-Sarray was fined $270,000 after he pleaded guilty to two offences of supplying false or misleading weighbridge disposal dockets for waste – including asbestos – that was taken to the Suez landfill in Kemps Creek and Dial-a-Dump landfill in Eastern Creek. He was fined $135,00 for each offence.
The dockets Mr Al-Sarray provided between February and May 2017 stated the waste came from construction sites at Wolli Creek and Zetland, when it originated from sites in Terrey Hills, Westmead, Sydney Olympic Park, Waterloo, Lidcombe, Regents Park, Hurstville, St Peters and Summer Hill.
The Land and Environment Court found that while no direct harm to the environment was caused on this occasion, the offences did cause "regulatory harm" because they created uncertainty if waste was unable to be tracked accurately and reliably.
Justice Duggan went on to say that the offence "could have resulted in a risk of harm to the environment and community safety" because of the possible presence of asbestos in the waste and that Mr Al-Sarray would have foreseen this possibility when he made the false claims.
He was also ordered to pay the NSW EPA's costs and to publicise details of the offence in the August issue of Inside Waste magazine.
The Land and Environment Court said the fines and publication order were imposed to adequately punish Mr Al-Sarray, hold him accountable, denounce his conduct and recognise the harm to the community to a degree proportionate to the offending conduct.
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