Environmental Breaches Punished in Tasmania

In July 2007, Tasmanian Environment Minister, Paula Wriedt, announced that the country's Compliance and Investigation Section has investigated 60 cases, prosecuting nine breaches of the state's environmental laws, since it started in January 2005.

The Tasmanian Compliance and Investigation Section (CIS) is responsible for efficient development, implementation, maintenance, and review of compliance enforcement programs consistent with the objectives, principles and requirements of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994, the Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances Act 1987 and new Litter legislation.

She says the government has collected more than $60,000 in fines in the past year.
"In the last 12 months, it has issued three formal written warnings and has successfully prosecuted four cases by infringement notices and five cases on complaints before the courts," Ms Wriedt said.

"The CIS is currently managing 17 active cases, including the one several weeks ago where a black, sooty substance was found washed ashore on parts of the Eastern Shore."

A recent example of such a case is the guilty plea submitted in November 2007 by the shipping company, Eitzen Chemicals (Singapore) Pte Ltd, to one charge of depositing a pollutant where it may cause material environmental harm.

The charge arose out of an investigation conducted by the Environment Division of the Department of Tourism, Arts and the Environment following reports of rafts of a sooty substance on the Derwent River and blanketing an area between Lindisfarne and Rose Bay on 15 June 2007.

The investigation found that the soot had been emitted from the funnel of the Siteam Anja, a petroleum tanker, owned by Eitzen Chemicals which was berthed at Selfs Point Wharf between 14 and 15 June 2007.

Tasmania's Director of Environmental Management, Warren Jones, said that although not toxic the substance was very fine, had been difficult to remove and had caused a widespread concern environmental nuisance.

"We had calls from a number of concerned residents who had had to clean the soot off their houses, outdoor belongings and even pets," Mr Jones said. "During our investigation we found evidence that the soot had covered cars, vegetation, waterbirds, playground equipment and yachts."

Investigators from the Environment Division's Compliance and Investigation Section were assisted by officers from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Tasmania Police in boarding the vessel and interviewing the foreign crew.

Mr. Jones said that the investigation was an excellent example of cooperation between different agencies to achieve a successful outcome.