NSW Contractors Fined for Water Pollution

Following a successful prosecution by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), the Eden based excavation and earthmoving contractors John Michelin and Son Pty Ltd, have recently been fined $43550 (Environment Protection Authority v John Michelin Pty Ltd (2019) NSWLEC 88). The NSW Land and Environment Court convicted the company of polluting waters on the State’s southern coast and causing environmental harm to the waterways. The fine will be paid into an environmental project in the Eden area and managed through the Environmental Trust.

The offence, committed in 2017, happened when the company was cleaning out a dam on a property and pumped contaminated water into a drain that led to a creek, a lake and East Boyd Bay at the State’s south-eastern tip.

A spokesman for the Authority disclosed that discoloured water was observed in East Boyd Bay and black water was discovered in the creek downstream for a week afterwards.

The Court noted that the company employees were not given an environmental management plan or an indication of how the storm-water management system at the property worked. However, in mitigation, the Court took into consideration that the company had been cooperative in its dealings with the Authority, had been of good character to date, and had not previously been convicted of any environmental offence.

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