Laboratories face fines of up to $500,000 if they don't notify their clients when they find asbestos in samples that companies submit for waste testing, even if they haven't requested analysis for the cancer-causing substance.
The NSW Land and Environment Court has levied a $63,000 fine plus costs on the director of an earthmoving and haulage company who arranged for more than 3,500 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated waste to be removed from a Shell refinery site and illegally dumped at a rural residential property.
When new treatment facilities open in the next few months, companies won't be allowed to landfill contaminated soils just because it is cheaper to do so, according to EPA Victoria.