Hume council has described as “excessive” the costs it bore as a result of the Ecotec Woodwaste fire that closed the Hume Highway last November.
The council has written to Environment Minister Lisa Neville raising its concerns about the excessive cost and burden placed on it by the November 20 fire.
It asks to meet the state government about what it says was the “inability” of the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to take action that would have prevented the Somerton fire, which cloaked Melbourne’s north in a pall of black smoke and burnt for six days.
The council also cited its concerns about ongoing risks to the community.
Ecotec Woodwaste has been a longstanding issue for Hume council. The week of the fire, the former main operator of the commercial site was fined $59,000 on charges that included failing to comply with orders not to add more waste to the land.
Councillor Drew Jessop said there had been previous fires at the site in September and December 2014, and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ordered all waste be removed from the land by June 30 last year.
Cr Jessop said council had tried to take various enforcement actions against the owners, who did not have a permit to run a recycling business on the site.
“We rely on the EPA and others to do their work,” he said.
