Fined for illegal burning

A man who illegally burned 75 truck tyres on a Hinds property in December 2010 has been fined $13,000.

Jonathan Yeatman placed 100 rubber truck tyres in a windrow as an accelerant to burn waste wood caused by wind damage to a forest plantation. The resulting fire caused a very large discharge of contaminants to the air.

In sentencing Mr Yeatman, Judge P R Kellar said that the defendant made a conscious decision to add the tyres to the wood to accelerate the fire. Mr Yeatman said he was unaware that a resource consent was required to burn tyres, but in the judge’s opinion an agricultural contractor should be aware of this requirement.

Judge Kellar noted that Mr Yeatman was genuinely remorseful, that he was co-operative with investigation authorities, and that he helped the Fire Service to remove some 25 of the 100 tyres from the fire. However, the scale of the fire meant that there were very significant effects on air quality. Noxious emissions from the burning tyres continued for around five hours and caused disturbance to properties in the surrounding area.

Rubber tyres are not permitted to be burned under Rule AQL36 of the Resource Management Act, said Environment Canterbury Resource Management Director Kim Drummond.

“The burning of waste materials such as metals, corrugated iron, rubber, plastics, and treated and untreated wood can seriously affect the health and well-being of individuals and can have major short-term and long-term effects on the environment.

“It is important that land owners dispose of waste materials to the correct facilities and only burn materials after referring to the regional plan or checking with Environment Canterbury first,” said Mr Drummond.