Ruapehu Alpine Lifts has been fined $300,000 for a diesel spill on Mount Ruapehu.
The fine was imposed today at a sitting of the Taihape District Court in Ohakune.
The Turoa and Whakapapa ski field operator has been fined $240,000 for breaching the 1991 Resource Management Act by allowing the discharge of a contaminant and the remainder is for failing to take all practicable steps to notify WorkSafe New Zealand of the diesel spill as soon as possible.
The charges were laid after up to 19,000 litres of diesel leaked from a tank at the Turoa ski area into the ground and the Makotuku Stream on September 26-27, 2013.
The stream is a source of water for Raetihi, and the town's supply had to be shut down for several weeks.