A “harmful” act by McDonald’s staff has landed one store in hot water and resulted in a fine totalling $3,846.
Members of the community grew concerned after noticing “an oily discharge coming from stormwater drains” near the store at Kingsbury in Victoria and reported it to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), prompting the agency to take immediate action.
The authority found staff had been tipping their waste cooking oil down the stormwater drain rather than putting it into the designated collection tank, which McDonald’s Australia confirmed to Yahoo News is how staff should “dispose of waste oil correctly”.
Ian Wright, an associate professor from the School of Science at Western Sydney University, previously told Yahoo cooking oils wreak havoc on drains and our waterways by causing blockages. It also has devastating effects on the environment and marine life, the EPA warns.
Warning over harmful effects of cooking oil
EPA officers received a report from the community about their concerns, and after a conversation with the store owner established that a pump necessary for the operation of the collection tank had not been working for three months, and staff had been tipping waste oil down the drain instead.
EPA North Metro Regional Manager Jeremy Settle stressed the importance of not pouring oil down the drain. “Cooking oils have a harmful effect on aquatic life. It can cause the depletion of oxygen similar to petroleum oils,” he said in a statement last week.
“We’ve contacted McDonalds’ head office to highlight the issue and ensure they let all their franchises know that this is not an acceptable practice.”
“The only thing that should be going down the stormwater drain is rain,” he added. “Businesses like McDonald’s know their obligations to protect the environment.”
