A man who dumped more than 1000 tonnes of asbestos in Croom, among other offences, has been fined $450,000 by the NSW Environment Protection Authority.
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Christopher Binos pleaded guilty in Wollongong Local Court in May to failing to comply with a clean-up notice issued by the EPA in mid-2019, six months after he left the waste at a site on Croome Vale Road.
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Binos was also found guilty of dumping 2400 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated fill in Vineyard, in north-west Sydney, in September 2019.
The total fines, compensation and legal costs from the two incidents totalled over $450,000.
In January 2019, a Croom man responded to an online ad from Binos, who offered to deliver fill and work to pave the man's driveway for free.
Over the next month, about 50 trucks deposited more than 1000 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated soil and building rubble on and alongside the driveway, with the potential for run off to enter a nearby waterway.
Binos, whose business card said he was an "earthworks agent", told the man he could arrange for "clean slate" to be delivered, compacted and sealed with a coat of bitumen for free.
The Croom property is owned by Boral Resources and Boral employees inspected the dumped fill in February and immediately contacted the EPA with concerns.
These were not the first time that Binos had run afoul of the EPA for the incorrect disposal of asbestos. In 2017, Binos was fined $16,250 for dumping asbestos waste at a private property in Mowbray Park, south-west Sydney.
EPA executive director regulatory operations Stephen Beaman said that offers for free materials may come with hidden costs.
"The Court found that Binos acted deliberately - he knew the fill contained asbestos," he said.
"It's also a timely reminder that if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Free fill may come at no price, but it can have a hefty cost if it is contaminated."
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