Chemical company charged over blaze that gutted factory
A chemical manufacturer could be fined $9 million over a massive factory fire that blanketed a suburb in hazardous smoke and caused potentially toxic pollutants to leak into waterways.
The inferno that broke out at the Derrimut factory in Melbourne’s west in July 2024 was one of the city’s biggest industrial fires in recent years.
While there were no injuries, the explosions caused chemical drums to blow up and it took more than 180 firefighters four hours to bring the blaze under control.
WorkSafe on Tuesday accused chemical manufacturer ACB Group of failing to provide a safe working environment and twice failing to take reasonable precautions as the user of a facility where hazardous substances are produced and stored.
The maximum penalty for each charge is a $1.78 million fine.
While workers were unloading hazardous materials from a bulk container into 20-litre barrels, a catastrophic fire caused by static electricity discharge gutted the factory.
The workplace watchdog alleges that the company failed to provide and maintain safe systems of work by failing to provide workers with adequate training and necessary supervision, and also failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent fire or explosion.
More than three million liters of water and 40,000 liters of foam were used to combat rising flames filled by barrels containing kerosene, methyl alcohol, methanol and other substances stored at the site.
Officials had to pump wastewater to treat it off-site, sandbag stormwater drains and install containment barriers to stop contaminants from spreading downstream.
Residents were told to stay away from local waterways, and real-time sensors had to be installed at different locations to monitor pollutant levels.
ACB Group will appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 9.
The same manufacturer and its manager, an Altona Meadows employee, were also charged with violating occupational health and safety laws for a fatal fire at the same facility nine months before the 2024 blaze.
A 44-year-old worker died and two others were injured after an explosion in October 2023 in the same building that houses chemical blending company and fuel producer Powerplus.
ACB Group and its director will face a criminal investigation into the fatal fire on July 29.
