The five-metre boat was discovered by inspectors from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation high and dry next to Dalison Avenue in Wattleup on 8 November 2021.
The inspectors had placed hidden cameras in the area some time before, and the camera’s recordings showed a vehicle entering the area with the boat on a trailer and leaving the area eight minutes later without the boat.
The investigation led to Wayne Charles Miller, 55, who later admitted in an interview that the boat was his, as well as the vehicle that had been used to dump it.
In the Fremantle Magistrates Court on Friday 13 January 2023 Mr Miller was fined $3,200 with a clean-up cost of $757 and an additional $788.30 in court costs.
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s Executive Director for Compliance and Enforcement, Ruth Dowd, said it was unusual for such a big object to be illegally dumped.
“Our inspectors see all sorts of waste that people have dumped illegally, but this might be the first time we’ve convicted someone for dumping a boat,” she said.
“There really is no excuse for it – all waste, big or small, should be safely disposed of in the correct manner.”
Anyone who witnesses illegal dumping is asked to call DWER’s Pollution Watch Hotline on 1300 784 782, email pollutionwatch@dwer.wa.gov.au or call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
