Lismore City Council is seeking assistance in investigating the illegal dumping of about a tonne of asbestos-contaminated materials on the roadside in North Lismore.
The dumping is a serious offence that can attract fines of up to $250,000 for individuals and $1 million for businesses.
The council’s environmental health compliance officer Stuart Thomson said, ‘This is the second dumping within a four-month period in an almost identical location. The first matter involved a significantly smaller amount of material and the offender was prosecuted and fined $1500.’
‘We have examined the materials and we are also seeking information from the community to assist us in identifying where the materials have come from,’ Mr Thomson said.
He said the most alarming aspect of the incident ‘is that a person could be so irresponsible with a product like asbestos when it is widely known in the community that it is a highly dangerous substance. How they could have dumped it in that manner in a public street is beyond me.’
The materials were dumped sometime between midday on Saturday and 7am Sunday in Cusack Road, North Lismore, about 120 metres west of Woodlawn Road. The materials look to have come out of an older-style bathroom and feature light blue, light green and cream paint.
Mr Thomson said council secured the environment as soon as it heard about the incident on Monday morning and made arrangements for the site to be cleaned up by authorised asbestos removalists. The hazardous materials have since been removed.
If anyone has information that could assist investigations please contact Lismore City Council on 1300 878 387.
