Channel Infrastructure fined $169,000 for using banned firefighting foam

Channel Infrastructure, the company that operated Marsden Pt Oil Refinery, has been fined $169,000 after banned firefighting foam was used at the site and ended up in Whangārei Harbour. Photo / NZME

Using banned, toxic firefighting foam that ended up in Whangārei Harbour has seen the company that operated the Marsden Point Oil Refinery fined $169,000. Channel Infrastructure NZ Limited received the fine when it was sentenced in the Whangārei District Court on charges of discharging contaminants, in breach of the Resource Management Act.

The firefighting foam that had been banned from use in training exercises was used multiple times at Marsden Point Oil Refinery, with foam ending up in Whangārei Harbour.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) laid seven charges against the company, formerly the New Zealand Refining Company Limited, under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act and a further seven charges under the RMA.

Channel Infrastructure entered guilty pleas to all 14 charges, which relate to the prohibited use and unauthorised discharge of firefighting foam containing per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on seven separate occasions in May and June 2021.

The company estimated that staff sprayed up to 600 litres of concentrated foam during the training exercises - up to 60,000 litres of liquid (the concentrated foam mixed with water) in total.

It’s not known how much then entered Whangārei Harbour.

The authority said Whangārei Harbour was valued for its environmental, cultural and economic significance to Northland, and particularly for its kaimoana and its role as an important nursery and feeding ground for commercial fish species.

The harbour was also used for commercial vessel navigation and a wide variety of water recreation activities, it said.

In the Whangārei District Court during sentencing, Judge Jeff Smith said the emergency response trailer that was used in the training exercises was only intended to be used for emergency fires.

He said the trailer indicated on it that it contained a fluorine-free foam but in fact it contained the PFAS foam.

The company had mechanisms in place to ensure the emergency response trailer was not used for training but the systems did not function as they should have, the judge said.

Judge Smith said there was no satisfactory explanation as to why the emergency response trailer was used. “Its use on seven occasions for training can only be described as extraordinary,” he said.

The authority’s general manager of compliance, monitoring and enforcement Gayle Holmes said hazardous chemicals needed to be carefully managed to protect the environment and people.

“Firefighting foams containing PFAS can cause serious land and water contamination. That’s why there is international agreement on the need to address these ‘forever chemicals’.

“These substances don’t break down - they build up and bioaccumulate over time in living organisms, including in terrestrial and marine mammals.”

Holmes said cumulative and long-term effects may seem less tangible in the immediate aftermath of an incident of this nature, but steps were being taken today to prevent these types of longer-term effects simply becoming a problem for future generations.

“The EPA takes failure to meet hazardous substances and resource management requirements very seriously. We hope this case raises awareness of the importance of having robust systems which are fit for purpose and followed when managing hazardous substances.”

Firefighting foams that contain PFAS are prohibited from use in training exercises. Further restrictions come into effect from December this year. A complete phase-out comes into effect in 2025, after which the use of legacy PFAS firefighting foams will be prohibited in any circumstance.