Concrete firm fined $29,000 for water pollution

By ANNE GIBSON

Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure has been fined nearly $29,000 for a series of toxic discharges into the Papakura stream which flows into the Manukau Harbour.

All signs of aquatic life were extinguished in the stream after the concrete pipe manufacturing firm polluted it to such an extent that investigating officers could not find even the bodies of dead fish or eels.

A tributary of Hayes Creek at Papakura was found to be completely lifeless and sterile after highly alkaline wastewater drained into it throughout 2000 and last year. In the Auckland District Court, Judge Fred McElrea said the prosecution should be a warning to all businesses.

Judge McElrea ordered the company to pay the fine and costs after its subsidiary, Humes Pipeline Systems, was convicted of discharging pollution from its concrete pipe manufacturing plant.

Judge McElrea said Fletcher Concrete should regard this case as providing lessons not only for the Papakura site but all its sites.

He said the events were easily foreseeable and easily preventable.

Fletcher Concrete was prosecuted by the Auckland Regional Council under the Resource Management Act for three separate discharges.

It pleaded guilty to all charges.

Pollution control officer Marty White said yesterday that although he was pleased with the outcome, it had taken six months of his time.

He said his division was over-worked and understaffed.

"Auckland has about 14,000 businesses which could potentially pollute the environment but there are only nine pollution control officers - we are up against it."



Mr White said pollution control officers visited the Hayes Creek site three times, between February and August last year, after a consultant working on a nearby site reported finding the stream heavily discoloured with what appeared to be concrete sediment.

"We found no aquatic life, dead or alive. Nothing would survive in that stream," Mr White said.

He said it was one of the worst cases in the 1000 complaints received annually in Auckland.

On the first visit, the officers found concrete wastewater from Humes' settling pond system had been deliberately diverted from the recycling ponds into the stormwater system.

The ARC said this was because the process was not coping with the amount of waste being produced on the site.

"The second offence involved a break in a wastewater pipe, discharging waste into the ground and stormwater drain.

"The company had no detection or prevention system for such an incident," said the ARC.

"ARC officers revisited the site at the request of the company, having been assured that the stormwater system was blocked off allowing no material to leave the site.

"However, ARC staff found that concrete was being waterblasted off pipes, and stormwater drains were ineffectively blocked with sand-filled rice bags."

In June last year, Firth Industries - another division of Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure - was fined $27,000 for discharging wastewater into the Henderson Creek in May and July 2000.

The prosecution was also brought by the ARC and the concrete firm was told by Environment Court Judge William Treadwell that it was "reckless".

Firth was also prosecuted for illegal discharges from a site in Takanini in 1997.

Bill Roest, chief financial officer for Fletcher Building, said yesterday the company regretted what happened at Papakura.

"I understand there were three incidents - one was where we diverted the water, but two were accidents.

"We cooperated fully with the ARC and even had them educate our people at Humes at Papakura.

"We regret the incident and will do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Asked if three prosecutions of Fletcher concrete companies since 1997 was an acceptable record, Mr Roest said Fletchers took environmental issues seriously and had taken steps to ensure there were no further problems.

Auckland Regional Council

Fletcher Building