General News
19 September, 2024
Dumper faces almost $3000 in fines
A serial rubbish-dumper who had been using the banks of the Wimmera River as a personal tip has been caught and fined.
The Horsham woman, 41, received a $1976 infringement under the EPA Act Section 115(4) and will be charged clean-up costs of $849.
The total fines amount to $2825.
The dumping occurred near the Riverside Road bridge in an area that has become a hotspot for offenders.
Illegal dumping of litter costs Horsham Rural City Council tens of thousands of dollars a year - a cost-burden that's borne by ratepayers.
"Unfortunately, much of the rubbish ends up in our waterways," an HRCC spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said HRCC believed there were "several repeat offenders in Horsham".
They said council encouraged people with information that could help to catch rubbish-dumpers and hold them to account to call 5382 9777.
The cost of tipping general waste at council's transfer stations starts at $19, and many items are recycled at no cost to the resident.
Batteries, eWaste, fluorescent lights, gas cylinders weighing less than 9kg, cardboard, glass containers, household and motor oil, paint, polystyrene, whitegoods, scrap metal and drums (which under the DrumMuster scheme must be triple rinsed) can all be deposited free of charge.