The EPA will pursue enforcement action that could cost the company nearly $300,000 in fines.

J & J Dynamotive and Caltex have been involved in a 10-year dispute over environmental pollution at petrol stations on either side of Blackburn Road near Blackburn Village.

The EPA has sought a clean-up plan from J & J Dynamotive, which was not submitted by the November deadline, EPA spokeswoman Tanya O’Shea said. J & J Dynamotive owner Paul Kannegisser could face fines of up to $293,136 for failing to submit a plan.

The owners of the Caltex service station, which has been closed since 1997, submitted a clean-up plan in May.

Caltex carried out some clean-up in 2001 but the site was later found to be recontaminated.

Mr Kannegisser said through his lawyer, Tony Caillard, that he would not submit a clean-up plan until he saw Caltex’s.

‘‘My client is frustrated because we can’t act in isolation,’’ said Mr Caillard.

He said he had submitted a Freedom of Information request for the document last month after his request was refused by Caltex and the EPA.

Caltex spokesman Sam Collyer said the company would provide its plan but had not been approached. ‘‘It’s untrue we refused to supply the plan. We are happy to supply it and we hope a similar level of transparency occurs at their level,’’ he said.

Caltex would start the clean-up process in January, despite the risk of recontamination, he said. The work is expected to take about three years. However, Mr Collyer said it was pointless to do a clean-up if the neighbouring site was recontaminating the site.

Blackburn Chamber of Commerce president Janet Gardner said enough was enough. ‘‘It’s like a Beirut bombsite. It’s affecting business and we just want the sites to agree and the EPA to act so we can get back to business as normal,’’ she said.

Tony Edrisinha, who owns the Jacaranda Tree Cafe, which overlooks the former Caltex site, said the derelict site was Blackburn’s biggest eyesore.

‘‘It’s disgusting. I bought the cafe 11 years ago and it’s bad, not only for me, but for customers. People don’t want to look at that,’’ he said. ‘‘I have even seen people stop there and chuck garbage bags over the fence.’’

The J & J Dynamotive site stopped operating as a petrol station in 2002 but continues to operate as a mechanic’s workshop.