TYRE HAZARD: Some of the illegally dumped used
tyres which posed an unacceptable fire risk and
provided potential breeding gounds for mosquito
larvae.
A GOLD Coast man has been fined $85,000 for illegally dumping more than 60,000 used car tyres.
Tyre dealer Robert Lincoln Penny, 55, on Monday pleaded guilty to using four separate properties in Logan and on the Gold Coast to illegally store tyres.
Penny, who owns the used tyre business Rubber Baron at Beenleigh, also faces trial for allegedly providing false or misleading information to the Department of Environment and Resource Management.
The case in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court related to 14 charges under the Environmental Protection Act and the Integrated Planning Act.
The offences, which took place in 2008 and 2009, involved the storage of tyres on properties at Stapylton and Loganholme in Logan City, and at Wongawallen and Alberton on the Gold Coast.
The former Environmental Protection Agency announced a blitz on illegal tyre disposal in 1998 and wrote to about 900 auto retail businesses warning them tyres were regulated waste. It came after complaints from waste contractors that motorists were paying millions of dollars in so-called environment charges to dispose of used tyres only for them to be illegally dumped.
Tyre retailers commonly pay contractors to dispose of used tyres and pass on the cost through an environment disposal fee, which can be up to $7 for larger tyres. Unlicensed operators had charged garages as little as $1.10.
Sustainability Minister Kate Jones said yesterday the case should send a message to businesses that they had to handle and store tyres appropriately and in accordance with environmental legislation.
"This was industrial waste gone mad. It was illegal and completely unacceptable," Ms Jones said.
"The defendant created a sea of tyres on private properties which posed a number of significant risks to the environment, including a massive fire hazard.
"At all four of the properties involved in this case, Mr Penny completely ignored the environmental laws that regulate waste disposal.
"In the case of the Loganholme property, Mr Penny was storing 40,000 tyres on a property zoned residential, which is completely unacceptable.
"Tyres left in the open also create an ideal habitat for vermin and mosquitoes. When rainwater starts to build up inside it, a single tyre can act as a breeding ground for hundreds of mosquito larvae."
In 2005 a tyre stockpile at Keperra on Brisbane's northside caused a nightmare for firefighters after it ignited during a bush fire.
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