The state's environmental watchdog has issued the Blackwell family with legal orders to significantly reduce the amount of recycling waste on its Helensburgh property or risk court action.
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The NSW Environmental Protection Authority yesterday declared the family had been "operating an unlawful waste facility" at its landscaping and building supplies business, Blackwell Bros, at 159 Walker St.
The announcement came after an eight-month EPA investigation into operations at the site, kicked off by an earlier Wollongong City Council review that found the Blackwell Bros earth-moving and landscaping business had been using land beyond the scope and footprint of its 28-year-old development consent.
"The EPA also has concerns that the way the business is being run does not meet standard environmental controls to prevent pollution," the authority told the Mercury last night.
It confirmed it had issued the Blackwells with an official "clean-up notice", requiring a large amount of waste to be removed from the site "so that it is operating at a lawful level".
The authority would not reveal how much extra waste it found on the premises, only saying the amount was "many times more" than the allowable limit of 2500 tonnes.
Under the terms of the notice, the Blackwells will be required to remove 2000 tonnes of waste from the property per month, starting in July, until the site is operating within the law.
The EPA did not say how long the notice would be in force, or when it was due to expire, but said it would continue to investigate activity at the property and monitor compliance with the notice.
It also said if the Blackwells failed to adhere to the notice, legal action could be taken.
But Adam Blackwell yesterday said the EPA's move had left him quite confused.
"We still can't make head or tail of what they want us to do," he said, arguing his recycling business was good for the environment. "They are classifying landscape materials as waste, and they aren't."
Mr Blackwell said the EPA's action against his company was putting jobs at risk.
"We've got 30 people working here, but we'll have to cut back to four if we even decide to keep going," he said.
In separate action, Wollongong councillors agreed last month to give the Blackwells until July 14 to scale back operations at the site or recommence legal proceedings against the family.
A council spokesman said the legal action was "separate and independent" of the EPA notice.
