The EPA estimates there are 7 to 10 million litres of chemicals still inside the burnt-out and partially collapsed warehouse on Somerville Road, part of 7 to 15 million cubic metres of contaminated soil and building debris that must be remediated. However, the discovery - nearly 14 months after the fire - raises serious concerns about the EPA’s handling of the investigation and its decision to wait more than a year to conduct a survey of the site wreckage. Burnt drums left behind after the warehouse fire in Tottenham. Credit:Justin McManus The revelation that a sizeable stockpile of liquid chemicals were not incinerated in the blaze has led authorities to now post 24-hour guards at the property and revise emergency plans in the event contamination spreads to nearby properties and waterways. EPA chief executive Dr Cathy Wilkinson told The Age authorities had always known there would be “residual” materials on the property and focused its effort on ensuring risks at the fire site were properly managed. This occurred while also fixing the damage to Stony Creek, preventing the spread of further contamination and undertaking sampling and analysis.

“Community safety and environment protection has been what’s driven regulatory action to date,” she said. “We’re prepared to make the statement publicly on this site that government stands ready to step in if the duty-holder fails to fulfil its obligations to clean up the site.” Months of delays in assessing the West Footscray property have been caused by the EPA and dangerous goods regulator WorkSafe attempting to force a clean-up by former tenant Graham Leslie White, the self-described “recycler” who has been linked to more than a dozen other illicit chemical stockpiles around the state. More than 80 million litres of toxic chemicals have so far been discovered in warehouses in Melbourne, as well as buried on a bush block near the South Australian border that is threatening to contaminate the water supply of farms and towns in western Victoria.

Regulators waited for White to serve a six-month prison sentence for amassing an arsenal of illegal firearms, including a machine gun, before slapping him with “clean up” notices for the West Footscray property after his release in September. But White has already proven incapable or unwilling to clean up the other sites linked to him in Melbourne’s north, with WorkSafe stepping in earlier this year to take control of those dumps and obtaining a court order freezing his assets in an attempt to pay for the operation. White is currently under investigation by several law enforcement agencies and the Australian Taxation Office over his alleged role in the syndicate behind the illicit chemical dumping operation - the biggest in the state’s history - and his links to outlaw motorcycle gang the Hells Angels. Graham Leslie White spent six months in jail for serious weapons offences. Credit:Jamie Brown The registered owner of the West Footscray property, Danbol Pty Ltd, was issued with orders in August to clean up the property by mid-2020. The director of that company, accountant Christopher Baldwin, also has business links to the Hells Angels.

The Age does not suggest Mr Baldwin has done anything illegal. Peter Marshall, Victorian secretary of the United Firefighters Union, told The Age that the discovery of a stash of intact chemicals could help identify the substances that hundreds of emergency services personnel had been exposed to during the fire. “To date we really don’t have any idea what toxic products have been causing illnesses in our members. Finding that out will allow us to target them with the appropriate treatment,” he said. Mr Marshall said the union's lawyers would be instructed to seek a court order compelling the EPA and WorkSafe to turn over samples for testing. The EPA’s failure to detect the massive supply of chemicals left behind after the West Footscray fire is the latest in a series of significant failings in investigating and stopping the syndicate behind the massive dumping operation.