Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has planning well under way for the mammoth task of cleaning up the huge stockpile of waste at Broderick Rd, Lara.
EPA Regional Manager South West, Carolyn Francis, says the authority has been working for months on the complex task.
"The final removal of an estimated 320,000 cubic metres, or hundreds of tonnes, of mixed waste may take up to three years," Ms Francis said.
"It is not just the sheer size of the stockpile that is challenging, it is the mix of construction and demolition waste, including timber, concrete, bricks, plaster, glass and ceramics, and the fire and contamination hazards the stockpile can still present if it is not carefully managed," she said.
"This operator has left a mess at the site bigger than anything we have previously seen in the state for this kind of waste. This will be a long and complex clean up to deliver."
"For the safety of the people working on the site, those transporting the waste, staff at the facilities that receive it, and especially the community at large, it needs to be well planned and executed to ensure it is done safely, but also in a timely and cost effective way," Ms Francis said.
