The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Port Macquarie’s Bridle Concrete Resources Pty Limited $1500 for failing to properly test and assess their crushed masonry products.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Port Macquarie company operates a waste processing facility at Kingfisher Road and supplies recovered aggregate for sale – that is, waste masonry products that have been crushed and screened, and are then sold on to be used as base materials in construction, road making and landscaping.
According to environmental legislation, operators must only provide this recovered product according to the requirements of the Recovered Aggregate Order 2014. This includes comprehensive sampling and testing of recycled products prior to any sale to show that the recovered aggregate is fit for purpose and not contaminated.
An EPA investigation found that Bridle did not meet these requirements in its dealings with two Mid-North Coast construction companies between March and June 2016.
Bridle supplied recovered aggregate to one local construction company that was building roads in a residential subdivision, and to another larger construction company that was building a shopping centre complex in Port Macquarie.
In both of these instances, Bridle did not complete the appropriate sampling and testing regimes to prove the material was free of contaminants. Fortunately, the fill material at the sites was covered with either asphalt or concrete so it was effectively capped.
EPA Manager Waste Compliance Cate Woods said while recovered masonry product might not obviously present a contamination risk, it could put the local environment at serious harm.
“Recovered concrete isn’t an obvious host of contamination but leachate from waste concrete can mean pollutants like sediment and elevated pH can reach the environment and local waterways,” Ms Woods said.
“Bridle should know the rules – all operators working in the waste recovery industry must know the testing and sampling requirements when it comes to selling recovered materials.”
The EPA also issued Bridle with an official caution for providing misleading information about the material supplied to the two construction clients.
“To supply misleading information to the EPA and not conduct the appropriate tests in a timely and comprehensive way not only impacts customers but puts the environment at risk of contamination,” Ms Woods said.