$28,500 fines for diesel spill

Two companies have been fined $14,250 each because of a diesel spill which closed Warkworth's water treatment plant for 17 days.

In a reserved judgment, Judge Lindsay Moore said the maximum penalty was $200,000, but there were far worse cases in terms of the defendants' fault and environment risk.

Bus operator Gubbs Motors and Kauriland Marine Stops, which owned the tank and bowser at the bus depot, pleaded guilty to one charge each of discharging on to land from the tank.

The Auckland Regional Council, which brought the charges under the Resource Management Act, said about 18,500 litres of diesel fuel escaped overnight on August 7, 2007.

It flowed into a stream, and members of the public gave warning when it entered the river which flows through Warkworth.

The diesel went into the upper reaches of the Mahurangi Harbour, coming within one kilometre of oyster farms, before it was contained with booms.

Judge Moore noted that the defendants had paid a total of $265,942 to the ARC and Rodney District Council for clean-up costs and for trucking in water to households as an alternative to the water supply.

Both were modest sized companies struggling to cope in difficult times, so it was to their credit they had insurance cover, which enabled them to fully compensate the councils.

Much of the compensation paid was because of the district council's failure to have any alternative source of water for its town supply.

Judge Moore ordered that 90 per cent of the fines should be paid to the ARC, as prosecuting authority.

The companies were also ordered to pay court costs of $130 and a solicitor's fee of $113.

Yesterday, Gubbs Motors operations manager Ian Davies said the tank had been removed from the depot, which was an inconvenience for bus operations and meant lost income from selling fuel to transient truckies.

"It's a shame that the vandals who caused the spill have not been arrested by the police."

ARC environment chairwoman Dianne Glenn said the spill could have easily caused a major environmental disaster.

It caused a 10-day clean-up, involving the ARC pollution response team and specialist contractors working round the clock.

Mrs Glenn said the sentence sent a message to businesses dealing with pollutants that they needed adequate security and spill-prevention measures.

Proceeds from the fines would cover the ARC's costs of prosecution.