The Stawell community will now be safe from the town’s greatest fire risk as the upcoming fire danger season nears.   

Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio officially announced the news on Tuesday, October 10- two months after EPA seized control of the site. 

“We’ve wasted no time getting rid of this high-risk fire hazard,” she said. 

“The Stawell community no longer needs to fear a toxic fire at the site.

“We have given the EPA the tools and resources it needs to keep the community safe.”

The state government invested $162.5 million to give the EPA the tools and resources it needed to manage risks such as the Stawell tyre yard– and dismantle them where appropriate.

Member for Western Victoria Jaala Pulford said the large-scale task was completed just in time, before the warmer weather starts. 

“This has been an enormous project, involving the removal of a million tyres weighing eight thousand tonnes,” she said. 

Northern Grampians Shire Council mayor Tony Driscoll also welcomed the relieving news. 

“Our community’s safety is paramount and we are grateful to the EPA and all agencies for finding a resolution for what at times seemed like an unfixable problem,” he said.