When Caltex discovered a diesel leak at its Moree bulk fuel depot in 2002 it replaced the pipeline but failed to notify the local council or the NSW environment department.
The NSW Land and Environment Court yesterday accepted this was an oversight but found Caltex should have had systems in place to rapidly rectify the reporting omission.
"The more serious issue is not so much this omission, but the fact that Caltex’s general reporting systems did not highlight the error and require its rectification …" Justice Jayne Jagot ruled.
The judge noted Caltex has since instituted procedures that the company and the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) agree would have ensured the incident was reported.
These systems include a loss prevention system which provides "a highly structured and disciplined approach to incident investigation" and centralised reporting of all incidents, the judge said.
Caltex has also implemented an 'operational excellence management system' developed by Chevron and designed partly to reduce the risk of incidents not being reported, she noted.
The judge ordered Caltex Australia Petroleum Pty Ltd to pay penalties totalling $27,000 for causing water pollution and failing to notify pollution. The money must be paid to the local council for a project to protect a local river. Caltex must also publicise its convictions in local papers and pay DECC legal costs.
DECC first heard of the contamination in late 2005 after a Roads and Traffic Authority report indicated there might be contamination at the depot.
EPA v Caltex Australia Petroleum Pty Limited [2007] NSWLEC 647
