Sediment flowing into drains on residential streets at Surrey Hills has cost a construction company a penalty of more than $5,500 after a complaint from the public.
EPA Victoria fined Laing O'Rourke Australia Construction Pty Ltd $5,548 after officers visited streets around the Surrey Hills railway station construction site on 29 March this year.
They found sediment-laden surface water running in the gutters and flowing into stormwater drains in Bedford Avenue, Union Road and Croydon Road, with lower concentrations of sediment in nearby Wilson Street and Leopold Crescent.
During the inspection, they observed a 12-wheeler truck leaving the construction site onto Bedford Ave, with ineffective controls in place, leaving sediment tracks on the road.
The construction company did have street sweeper trucks working in the area and sediment traps on some drains to stop it entering the storm drains, but they were not effective and some drains had no stormwater or sediment controls at all.
EPA Victoria North Metropolitan Regional Manager Jeremy Settle says it is not just about muddy tyre tracks, sediment can do a lot of damage to the environment.
"Even if it is not contaminated with anything else, sediment can reduce the oxygen content of local creeks and waterways, killing fish and other aquatic life," Mr Settle said.
"A build up of sediment can also block or reduce the flow of stormwater drains and creeks, potentially causing floods and erosion," he said.
The escape of sediment laden runoff water into suburban stormwater drains at Surrey Hills qualified as the unlawful deposit of waste of more than 50 litres but not more than 1000 litres under the Environment Protection Act 2017.
The EPA website has advice for businesses on sediment and erosion, at epa.vic.gov.au/for-business/find-a-topic/erosion-and-sediment/advice-for-businesses
Members of the public can report pollution by calling EPA's 24-hour hotline on 1300 372 842 or providing details online at www.epa.vic.gov.au/report-pollution/reporting-pollution
