Build dump could lead to fines

The site where asbestos-contaminated building waste was illegally dumped

A Tauranga demolition firm which illegally dumped building waste containing asbestos on to a rural site and carried out other disposal works without a resource consent faces thousands of dollars in fines.

'C' Side Services Limited which has admitted five offences under the Resource Management Act was due to be sentenced in the Environment Court at Tauranga yesterday.

Some of the material was dumped in a special ecological area.

The charges included permitting a contaminant from an industrial or trade site, namely demolition waste containing asbestos, to be discharged on to or into land and undertaking indigenous vegetation clearance and cleanfill disposal in a special ecological area without a resource consent.

The maximum fine for each offence is $600,000.

The demolition waste offences were committed between April 13 and 17 last year and the other offences between August 2010 and April 17 last year.

The offences came to light after Tauranga City Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council received a series of complaints in April last year.

Investigations revealed that 15 loads of asbestos contaminated building waste from the demolished Hosanna Christ Gospel Church in Fraser Street had been trucked to the defendant's 1.57 ha site, in Grange Rd, which borders the Waikareao Estuary, near Daisy Hardwick walkway.

About half of the property was within a special ecological area, the court was told.

But after hearing extensive submissions from councils and the defendant's lawyers about potential penalties, Judge Jeff Smith reserved his decision. A written ruling would be released in the next couple of weeks, the judge added.