$16,000 bill for dumping waste

A Christchurch company director has been ordered to pay more than $16,000 after he was convicted of dumping industrial waste on land near a river.

Peter Warwick Hurst pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court last month to one charge of discharging contaminated material to land that may have entered water . 

Hurst admitted dumping foundry waste from his factory in Bromley, 6km east of Christchurch, at sites on the Glen Colwyn Station in North Canterbury, which borders the Conway River. 

He told the court he had directed the disposal of the waste as there was no alternative disposal site following the closure of the Burwood landfill, 8km northeast of Christchurch. 

The dumping in North Canterbury was a last resort, he said.

Environment Canterbury said soil samples from the site contained heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons, which could have been leaching to groundwater.

The industrial waste was removed following the granting of an enforcement order by the Environment Court.

  Judge Jon Jackson fined Hurst $3000, ordered him to pay costs of $13,892 and court costs of $130.

- NZPA