Company fined for storage bund breach.

A Christchurch company has been fined $7000 for its failure to maintain the integrity of a storage bund on its property at 100 Ruru Road, Bromley, as required by the conditions of its resource consent.

BJ Dakin and Company Limited’s consent from Environment Canterbury permits the storage of petroleum compounds, chlorinated hydrocarbons, solvents and timber treatment products in a purposely built bunded area on its site. The purpose of the bund was to prevent contaminants escaping from the site.

In October 2009, Environment Canterbury officers inspected the property and discovered that stormwater contained in the bund was discharging from a number of points along its western and southern sections. The failure to maintain the structure meant that the company was in breach of its resource consent which constituted an offence against sections 9(2) and 338(1) of the Resource Management Act. The company is defending a charge in relation to the stormwater spill.

Judge Jackson said that the company had reported the incident to Environment Canterbury and had taken subsequent steps to seal the bund. He said that the breach was an operational failure and the company had put a management plan in place which involves regular maintenance checks from an outside contractor. As the offence relates only to the condition of the bund, the Judge noted that no environmental damage had resulted from this particular offence. He gave credit for an early guilty plea noting that the company had no previous convictions under the RMA.

Judge Jackson said that due to the enactment of the Resource Management Simplifying and Streamlining Amendment Act 2009, he was raising the initial starting point in regard to a fine to $30,000. However, because this offence occurred shortly after the amendment came into effect, he adopted a starting point of $20,000. Apart from the credit for an early guilty plea, Judge Jackson took current economic conditions into consideration and fined the company $7000 as well as ordering the payment of $130 in court costs and $113 in solicitor’s costs. Ninety percent of the fine was paid to Environment Canterbury.

Kim Drummond, Environment Canterbury director regulation, said that the prosecution demonstrated the importance of companies having a suitable management plan in place to ensure the integrity of their infrastructure and equipment and to prevent such incidents from occurring.

“The key message from this case is that companies can avoid such incidents by taking preventative measures and regularly monitoring their equipment and their property for faults. The company has put a management plan in response to the bund breach, however it could have avoided such an incident had it taken preventative measures and Environment Canterbury is encouraging other companies throughout the region to take such action.”