City convicted and fined for environmental offences

No longer on display. Expired on 09 August 2023, 05:00 PM

On 5 June 2023, Coffs Harbour City Council was convicted by the Local Court of two offences against 64(1) of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 for breaching a condition of the Environmental Protection Licence it holds for the Englands Road Waste Management Facility (Landfill). The Council was fined $20,000 and ordered to pay the EPA’s legal costs of $40,000.

The Council failed to maintain gas flowlines at Well Station A of the landfill gas extraction system at the Landfill in a proper and efficient condition, between August 2020 and November 2021. The offences contributed to increased fugitive landfill gas emissions from the Premises and had the potential to cause odour emissions detectable offsite by the local community.