A Geelong man is one of two people found guilty of transporting asbestos without the without the appropriate EPA registration.The man faced the Geelong Magistrates Court alongside another man from Ballarat.
Both fined thousands after being nabbed with a trailer load of asbestos in September 2021, when the men were seen removing asbestos from a house in Torquay.
Jason Kilday and Peter Ranton both entered a guilty plea in court, Kilday was fined $4,000 without conviction and ordered to pay $2,086 in court costs to EPA, while Ranton was convicted and fined $2,000. He was also ordered to pay $2,086 in costs.
At the time Kilday was advertised on the Jim’s Asbestos Removal website as a licensed asbestos removalist, even though neither he nor Ranton were licensed to do the job.
Police then intercepted the car towing the asbestos in a trailer that was not registered and without the appropriate EPA permission to transport the asbestos.
EPA Southwest Regional Manager Carolyn Francis says badly handled asbestos is hazardous to people’s health.
“There is strong regulation of asbestos because it is so common in older buildings, vehicles and other items produced before the hazards were known,” Ms Francis said.
“The licensing of trained removalists, the requirement to have an EPA registration to transport asbestos. and the strong controls on facilities that accept asbestos waste are parts of a system designed to safely remove, transport and dispose of asbestos,” she said.
“In this case, the system designed to protect the community had been bypassed.”
Image: File