A serial dumper has been slapped with a hefty fine after pleading guilty to illegally dumping tonnes of mulch in Canterbury-Bankstown.

Riad Abbas, of South Hurstville, was caught red-handed by surveillance cameras dumping on Council-owned land over a three-month period, earlier this year.

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said investigators were on the trail after large amounts of mulch was being repeatedly dumped a site in Milperra throughout 2019.

“We installed secret cameras at the location in January this year and caught Mr Abbas’ tipper-truck coming and going on three separate occasions,” Mayor Asfour said.

“He had no shame and just kept coming back, time and time again.

“It was only a matter of time before we caught up with him.”

Mr Abbas was found guilty of illegally dumping the mulch at Bankstown Local Court and was sentenced on 3 December.

He was fined $35,000, and ordered to pay $1,000 in costs, for:

• Transporting waste to an unlawful waste facility;
• Failing to comply with clean-up notices; and
• Failing to comply with requirements of an investigation notice.

Mayor Khal Asfour said the area where the mulch was dumped is located within the Georges River Flood Plain.

“If a flood event were to occur, the mulch would have been washed into the river polluting the water and damaging the already vulnerable ecosystem,” Mayor Asfour said.

“We have a zero tolerance for people like this, who just to want to cut corners. It’s dangerous, it’s hazardous, and obviously it impacts our community and the local environment as well,” Mayor Asfour said.

“We were lucky on this occasion and have been able to catch who was doing the wrong thing. But our officers cannot be everywhere all the time, so we also rely on residents to be our eyes and ears.

“If you see someone dumping rubbish, report it by calling Council on 9707 9000, or the RID Squad on 131 555.”