Midland Brick has been fined $12,500 by the Department of Environment and Conservation after allegedly contravening its licence under the Environment and Conservation Act.
Midland Brick has been fined $12,500 by the Department of Environment and Conservation after allegedly contravening its licence under the Environment and Conservation Act.
The fine is a 'modified penalty' and reflects the fact that there has been no environmental harm and that proceeding through the courts to trial may have have resulted in an unnecessary cost to the community.
The department has withdrawn a prosecution notice, but plans to re-issue it should Midland Brick not pay the fine within the 28 day period.
The company was charged with breaches of its operating licence relating to the monitoring of pollution levels after a four-month investigation into the manufacturer.
According to the department, the investigation found the company had allegedly failed to monitor two of its three required air monitoring sites and providing related ambient monitoring reports as required by its licence.
Midland Brick general manager of commercial operations Richard Hyland told WA Business News the company was seeking legal advice.
The full text of an announcement from the Department sent to Midland Brick earlier today is pasted below
The Department of Environment and Conservation is withdrawing a prosecution notice and issuing a "modified penalty" fine of $12,500 to a brick manufacturing company for allegedly contravening its licence under the Environmental Protection Act.
The company had been charged with contravening a condition of its licence contrary to section 58(1) of the Environmental Protection Act after an investigation identified that it had allegedly failed to monitor at two of the three required air monitoring sites and provide related ambient monitoring reports, as required by the licence.
In accordance with the Department's Enforcement and Prosecution policy, the DEC has decided to withdraw the charge and issue a Modified Penalty fine. The modified penalty has been administered under Section 99A of the Environmental Protection Act which empowers the Department to issue a fine where statutory conditions are met.
It was assessed that there was no environmetnal harm, and the saving of costs to the community woudl be greater by issuing this fine when weighed against the matter proceeding through the courts to trial.
The company has 28 days to pay the fine. If the fine is not paid then prosecution action will be recommenced.
The following statement was sent out from the Department of Environment and Conservation at 6:00 pm
The following additional information is provided by the Department of Environment and Conservation in relation to the media statement issued earlier today relating to a fine issued to a brick manufacturing company.
The Department is withdrawing a prosecution notice that was issued last October and is instead issuing a $12,500 modified penalty.
The modified penalty was administered under Section 99A of the Environmental Protection Act which empowers DEC to issue a fine where statutory conditions are met.
In issuing the modified penalty, the Department recognises the fact that the incident did not result in any environmental harm.
The company has 28 days to pay fine. If the fine is not paid then prosecution action will recommence.
