by The director and shareholders of a specialist Taranaki plumbing and pipeline company have been fined a total of $105,000 after they illegally disposed of demolition material from the old New Plymouth Airport terminal.
Offshore Plumbing Services (OPS) Racheal Teresa Cottam and Jeremy Thomas Cottam were jointly ordered to pay $52,500, while Maxwell Gray was solely fined $52,500 after the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) brought a prosecution against them.
The three are the shareholders – and Racheal Cottam is also the sole director of Offshore Plumbing Services, which was subcontracted to undertake demolition works for the New Plymouth airport project.
Part of their obligations was to remove and dispose of demolition material from the 53-year-old building, which was pulled down last year after its $28.7 million replacement opened.
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On Friday, they appeared in the Environment Court at New Plymouth after each pleaded guilty to discharging contaminants, namely demolition waste, on to and into land in circumstances which may have resulted in the pollution of a tributary of the Mangaoraka Stream and groundwater.
They also admitted discharging into the air contaminants from the outdoor burning of demolition waste at a landfill.
However, much of the material was illegally disposed of.
The offending occurred between June 2 and June 9 last year on a rural property on Lower King Rd in Tarurutangi, which is part of a dairy farm owned by Jeremy Cottam and Maxwell Gray as trustees of a family trust.
At the time it lodged its tender to do the work, OPS intended to take much of the material to the New Plymouth landfill.
But by the time the offending occurred, that facility had stopped taking much of the material OPS had to dispose of, it was heard in court.
So, they instead took some of the material to a farm quarry at the rural property for what they described as containment and sorting.
Asbestos was separated from other materials at the demolition site and disposed of in a compliant manner, which dumping records proved, it was heard in court.
On the evening of June 9, 2020, TRC officers inspected the property in response to a complaint of a smoky fire, Judge Brian Dwyer said.
They found a water-filled pit, created at the quarry site near the tributary, into which an OPS truck had just dumped a load of waste, Judge Dwyer said.
The Taranaki Regional Council brought a prosecution against the director and shareholders of Offshore Plumbing Services.
Adjacent to the pit was an area of approximately 150 square metres where other demolition waste was being burned.
Reports provided to the court stated that contaminants generated by dumping and the burning process entered surface water in the pit and groundwater, Judge Dwyer said.
Additionally, contaminated sediment from around the pit and burn site migrated under rainfall through flow paths into the tributary and were washed downstream.
Prosecutor Karenza de Silva said the Cottams offending was deliberate and they were culpable at the highest level, while Gray, who was responsible for the management of the farm but had not visited the quarry site nor seen the fire, was at a lower level.
Judge Brian Dwyer fined the three a total of $105,000 in Envrionment Court at New Plymouth on Friday.
Defence counsel Phil Lang said the offending was not deliberate, as none of the defendants appreciated that their actions constituted offences.
While Judge Dwyer, who ruled that the adverse effects caused by the contaminants were limited in terms of severity, duration and spatial extent, accepted that may be so, he said that wasnt the point in terms of culpability.
He believed they did not turn their minds to the consequences of their actions or the need for consent.
However, they should have done so. Their company is in the demolition business and as participants in it, they were expected to know and comply with their legal obligations.
Failing to make any enquiry with the council or any legal or planning advisor as to what they were undertaking on the property can only be described as reckless.
