Negligence fine the result of industrial oil spill.

Pollution Hotline staff had to use their best detective skills to track down the source of a serious oil spill into the Heathcote River. The 5000L of diesel, which had discharged from the Steel Bros site, was lurking in a culvert, detained only by a pipe across the drain.

Rain caused the level in the drain to rise, spilling oil into the Heathcote River and then retreating again as water levels dropped. Only after several thousand litres had escaped down the Heathcote River was the remainder found floating on the surface of the water under the culvert.

When pollution hotline staff found the oil an emergency response was instigated, including placing booms at locations along the river. 20,000 litres of diesel/water was sucked out from under the culvert. Thanks to the rapid response of Pollution Hotline staff, no diesel reached the lower Heathcote River or the estuary.

The spill still had a disastrous effect on the birdlife, with 95 ducks not surviving the contamination. Volunteers took 261 ducks to a duck rescue centre for clean up, returning them to the river once their natural oils had returned.

An investigation into the spill revealed that it had resulted from a theft and faulty bowser pump from the Steel Bros site. Steel bros were successfully prosecuted for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent the discharge as their yard was unsecured, had no secondary spill containment facility and there was a faulty cut-off switch on the pump which they had failed to fix for some time. They were fined $10 000 and ordered to pay $44 000 towards the clean up costs.