A Clayton company has been fined more than $5,000 after staff at a Doreen petrol station poured waste milk down a stormwater drain that leads to local waterways.
EPA Victoria officers found that staff at the United Petroleum station on Bridge Inn Road had poured an estimated 144 litres of milk and iced coffee down the drain, after the contents of the containers had gone out of date.
The staff said they didn't realise it was pollution.
The investigation began on 18 June 2022, when a witness sent a video to EPA, showing staff at the station emptying a collection of 2-litre and 3-litre milk containers into the drain, along with 13 containers of iced coffee.
The EPA officers found the stormwater drain next to the main entrance to the shop front was filled with white foamy liquid.
EPA issued the petrol station's operator, Duo Group Pty Ltd, of Ferntree Gully Road, Clayton, with a fine of $5,452.
EPA's Northern Metropolitan Regional Manager Chloe Bernett says milk might not seem like a serious industrial pollutant, but it can still damage the environment.
"The sewerage system can deal with waste milk, but stormwater drains cannot. They lead to local waterways where the decaying nutrients can cause a toxic algae bloom, kill aquatic life and cause odour," Ms Bernett said.
"It's important to let stormwater drains do their job and take rainwater to where it can do some good, including creeks, rivers, wetlands and the bay, without being contaminated by decaying waste that should have gone to a sewerage plant for treatment," she said.
Under the Environment Protection Act 2017 and the Infringements Act 2006, the operator has 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
