By Chris Vedelago and Lachlan Abbott
A bitter dispute erupted in the midst of the worst industrial fire in Melbourne in six years over what to do with millions of litres of contaminated water – potentially exposing those fighting the blaze to dangerous chemicals.
Water authorities allowed huge pools of water and firefighting foam contaminated with chemicals to collect around the enormous industrial site in Derrimut to protect fish in a nearby creek and limit clean-up costs.
Melbourne Water’s decision to delay flushing the toxic slurry, created by the blaze and the efforts to douse it, into drains and Cherry Creek sparked anger among emergency responders and regulators at the scene on Wednesday evening.
The plant, operated by chemical blending company ACB Group, stored kerosene, fuel, methylated spirits, ethanol, and other dangerous goods that were highly flammable and toxic.
Last year, Hoppers Crossing man Reece Martin was killed and two others were injured in a chemical fire at the same factory.
Hoppers Crossing man Reece Martin, who was killed in a fire at the ACB Group factory in Derrimut last October.
Two sources with direct knowledge of Wednesday’s seventh-alarm-level blaze, speaking anonymously to discuss operational matters, said a Melbourne Water official refused to authorise the pumping over concerns about local wildlife safety and the likelihood the agency would be forced to foot the bill to remediate creek contamination.
Firefighters and staff from the Environment Protection Authority, meanwhile, were demanding the water’s removal for safety and to prevent uncontrolled leaking off the property, the sources said.
The intense fire caused chemical drums to explode, launching them high into the air and endangering people outside the firefighting zone.
More than 3 million litres of water and 40,000 litres of foam have been used by firefighters since the start of the blaze.
The Melbourne Water official was eventually overruled by the agency’s senior management – but not before huge puddles of contaminated water had pooled around the property. It was too much to be fully contained by sandbags and specialised pumping vehicles, the sources said.
An EPA worker tests a creek on Thursday that runs through the Mount Derrimut golf course.Credit: Joe Armao
Melbourne Water’s head of waterway and catchment services in the north-west, Vix Penko, declined to comment on the dispute or actions of its staff during the Derrimut blaze.
“Melbourne Water’s top priority is to protect the waterway, environment and community. Our crews worked overnight to pump wastewater and dispose of it offsite for treatment,” Penko said. “Sandbags and booms are also in place, along with signage to keep the community informed.”
Penko said Melbourne Water would continue to “work in full collaboration with the EPA [Environment Protection Authority] to ensure the best possible outcome for the community and the environment”.
Melbourne Water has said it was forced to spend $806,330 for its response to a huge 2019 chemical fire at Bradbury Industrial Services that polluted local waterways. It also spent at least $6.05 million cleaning up after a chemical fire in West Footscray in 2018.
The EPA declined to comment on the incident with Melbourne Water over the Derrimut fire.
“EPA officers ensured Melbourne Water was made aware of the actions required to protect their assets early in the event, including pumping wastewater and removing it for treatment at a suitable location, which will continue over the duration,” a spokesperson said.
About 180 firefighters and dozens of trucks responded to the Derrimut blaze. It is the largest industrial fire since the 2018 West Footscray blaze, which erupted in an illegal chemical waste dump.
No one was injured at the Derrimut fire, but Fire Rescue Victoria has enacted special health protocols to monitor firefighters exposed to chemicals. Numerous firefighters suffered immediate and long-term injuries suspected of being linked to toxic exposure from the 2018 fire.
The fire-damaged Derrimut factory, operated by chemical blending company ACB Group, on Thursday.Credit: Joe Armao
The EPA issued a public warning late on Wednesday that firewater had seeped into Cherry Creek, Anderson’s Swamp and Kayes Drain from the fire in Swann Drive, just south of the Deer Park bypass.
Residents in Melbourne’s west have been warned to stay away from the waterways because of the chemicals.
“EPA will continue to monitor to identify if other areas have also been impacted,” the agency said.
The warnings come as new information has emerged about the problematic history of the ACB Group factory, and concerns are being raised among emergency response agencies about the way the crisis was managed.
The EPA’s western metropolitan region manager, Stephen Lansdell, told the ABC that ACB Group’s factory had been inspected nine times since the fire last October which killed Reece Martin, 44.
The fire rages on Wednesday.Credit: Joe Armao
WorkSafe confirmed on Thursday night that it had inspected the factory 24 times since the fatal fire, issuing seven compliance notices.
Martin’s father, Mick, said “he was one hell of a son and good man society has lost”.
“I believe that company was a timebomb just waiting to go up,” he said. “It cost a lovely man his life. His family are devastated.”
Lansdell said ACB Group had complied with two notices issued to “make sure they’d cleaned everything up” since the previous fire, but the size of Wednesday’s inferno had overwhelmed stormwater valves that helped stop contaminated firewater running off the site.
WorkSafe has said Martin was handling a flammable liquid when an explosion occurred, but investigations are ongoing.
Premier Jacinta Allan said she could “appreciate those questions being raised” about how two major fires occurred at the same factory in less than a year, but she “just wanted to be careful” in commenting further while investigations were under way.
“We have, in recent years, strengthened the powers, particularly of the EPA … and this will be thoroughly investigated by those agencies,” Allan said on Thursday morning.
The United Firefighters Union has claimed that Fire Rescue Victoria was forced to use a number of obsolete firefighting trucks to battle the blaze, including one appliance that has been in service since 1995 and four others that are more than two decades old.
Cherry Creek at Taras Avenue in Altona North on Thursday.Credit: Joe Armao
“We don’t want thanks, we want trucks that work,” firefighter and union member Doug Lukic said. “Yesterday 200 firefighters put their lives on the line knowing that it was basically a coin flip whether their equipment was fit for service.”
The ACB Group declined to comment.
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