A garden maintenance company could be facing thousands of dollars in fines, accused of illegally dumping rubbish in Wollongong at the weekend.
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Staff of Synergy Dry Cleaning arrived at work 7am Monday morning to find the nature strip outside the business, at the corner of Swan and Auburn Streets, littered with rubbish and building materials.
Broken doors, artwork, rusty sheets of corrugated iron, insulation batts, broken and rotting wood were seen strewn for metres outside the business with staff fearing there could even be asbestos in the pile.
“If we start picking up a westerly wind that stuff’s blowing straight in the door. I don’t know if there’s asbestos in that, there’s definitely fibreglass out there and cladding and God knows what else,” said manager Ray Merz.
While the heat from dry cleaning machines meant it wasn’t as easy as closing the roller doors.
Mr Merz found an unlikely clue after a quick rummage through the pile, coming across a delivery address for Shannon Duncan written on packaging from a bed.
Mr Duncan, a Keira Street resident, positively identified 30 per cent of the rubbish was waste his wife had paid a local garden maintenance company several hundred dollars to take to the tip.
“We were like ‘what the hell’,” he said.
“We’ve just moved into this area and we don’t want people thinking we’re dumping crap around the neighbourhood.
“I just can’t believe they’re that stupid.”
The maintenance business advertises through different mediums, including trade website www.hipages.com.au, for various types of gardening services plus waste and tree removal from Helensburgh to Albion Park.
“All work fully insured,” reads a flyer handed out by the owner.
Mr Duncan said he had been looking to hire the business owner and his side-kick for ongoing work but said “that’s not going to happen”.
Mr Duncan, Mr Merz, the owner of Synergy and the Illawarra Mercury have tried to contact the business in question multiple times with no response.
A Wollongong City Council spokesman said the Environmental Protection Authority had been notified and both organisations were investigating the matter.
He also said it wasn’t uncommon for offenders to leave evidence behind with their address or phone numbers on, such as invoices.
The maximum penalty for a court imposed fine is $1million, though a lesser “on the spot” fine could carry a penalty of up to $8000.
From January to date 743 cases of illegal dumping have been reported in the Wollongong Local Government, accounting for 302 tonnes of waste.
The most common types of waste dumped include household and construction waste, scrap metal and green waste.