Latrobe Magnesium has been issued with two fines from EPA Victoria, after a routine inspection found the company had started work on its pilot project without satisfying the startup conditions of its EPA licence first.
The two fines add up to $19,496 and EPA has stepped up scrutiny of the site.
EPA says the site was working under a Pilot Project Licence geared to managing high potential risk with extensive and strict conditions for the plant's design, construction and operation.
In October last year, EPA officers found Latrobe Magnesium had begun construction of the plant and trucking in the power station waste it would use to extract magnesium.
The company had not yet lodged the detailed designs required by its EPA licence before it could start, and the loads of waste had not been registered with EPA Waste Tracker. EPA says both of those failures are offences under the Environment Protection Act 2017.
Energy Australia Yallourn Pty Ltd, the source of the power station waste, has also been fined $9,616 for failing to register the waste with Waste Tracker as it was trucked out.
Waste Tracker is an online system where certain types of waste (Reportable Priority Wastes listed under Environment Protection Regulations 2021) must be registered when they leave the site, in transport, and at the point of disposal or recycling. It is designed to pinpoint when and where any waste was lost, sent for illegal disposal or transported without proper precautions.
EPA says these are systems designed to protect people and the environment, they include strict conditions and penalties, and businesses must take them seriously.
Under the Environment Protection Act 2017 and the Infringements Act 2006, the operators have the right to have the infringement notice reviewed or be considered by a court.
Members of the public can report pollution by calling EPA's 24-hour hotline on 1300 372 842 or providing details online at epa.vic.gov.au/report-pollution/reporting-pollution
