Alpine MDF Industries has been issued more than $50,000 in fines and court costs following a 2023 incident which saw 300kg of wood fibres rain down on neighbouring properties after a mechanical failure.
The business pleaded guilty to the incident and was handed a $45,000 penalty and ordered to pay more than $5000 in court costs at Wangaratta Magistrates Court.
The fine will be used to fund a local environmental project.
The court heard EPA Victoria investigators found a hatch on an industrial dryer dislodged at the Crosher Lane factory on 25 April, 2023, discharging wood fibres for more than 20 minutes.
Hundreds of kilograms of fibres rained down on buildings, vehicles, properties and land north-west of the factory, as far as 1.5km away at the Wangaratta North Family Motel.
Latest Stories
Security cameras at another company on Buckler Road recorded fibres falling for at least 23 minutes between 8am and 8:30am.
A triple zero call reported escaped dust creating a breathing hazard, and the neighbouring company closed down for more than a week after the incident.
Alpine MDF Industries processes wood chips into soft fibres, treats them with chemicals, then moulds them into Medium Density Fibre (MDF) board for the building industry.
The business later engaged contractors to clean up at neighbouring companies, and offered to reinstate paddocks and dams on nearby farms.
Alpine MDF also offered to pay for the cleaning of vehicles and any roof or other exposed surface affected at the nearby motel.
EPA Victoria charged the company with a breach of its operating licence, for discharging waste to air at a rate greater than prescribed, and discharging visible emissions to air in a manner not permitted by the licence.
The charge was found proven, without conviction.
The environmental project to be funded by the company’s penalty will be run by local organisations: the North East Catchment Management Authority (NECMA), Wangaratta Urban Landcare and Sustainability (WLS), Landcrew Partner, and Swamps Rivers and Ranges (SRR).
The project will involve woody weed removal and replanting with species indigenous to the local area, at locations around Reedy Creek, Yellow Creek, and a nearby site on Stamps Lane.
The woody weeds targeted by the project include the Box Elder, London Plane Tree, Desert Ash and Blackberries.
The organisations also hope to run a community workshop, demonstrating skills for controlling the invasive Black Willows that affect local waterways.
