Toxic Whangārei Harbour chemical spill won’t happen again - Channel Infrastructure

Channel Infrastructure says toxic foam that leaked from its Marsden Pt Oil Refinery site, above, into Whangārei Harbour - that saw it fined $169,000 - won’t happen again

The Northland company fined $169,000 after toxic firefighting foam used at the former Marsden Pt Oil Refinery leaked into Whangārei Harbour says it no longer uses the banned foam and the situation won’t happen again.

Channel Infrastructure, the company that replaced Refining NZ when the refinery closed this year, received the fine when it was sentenced in the Whangārei Court on charges of discharging contaminants, in breach of the Resource Management Act.

The firefighting foam that had been banned from use in training exercises was used multiple times at Marsden Point Oil Refinery, with foam ending up in Whangārei Harbour.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) laid seven charges against the company, formerly the New Zealand Refining Company Limited, under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act and a further seven charges under the RMA.

Channel Infrastructure entered guilty pleas to all 14 charges, which relate to the prohibited use and unauthorised discharge of firefighting foam containing per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on seven separate occasions in May and June 2021.

The company estimated that staff sprayed up to 600 litres of concentrated foam during the training exercises - up to 60,000 litres of liquid (the concentrated foam mixed with water) in total. It’s not known how much then entered Whangārei Harbour.

“Channel Infrastructure accepts the findings of the court, and acknowledges the sentence that has been handed down,’’ a company spokesperson said.

‘’When we were made aware of this issue, we acted immediately to report the incident to the EPA, the Northland Regional Council and tangata whenua, and since then we have fully cooperated with the EPA as they undertook their investigations on this matter.

“We are disappointed our onsite standing instructions as to the use of the PFAS firefighting foam were not followed, and have since strengthened the monitoring and our on-site enforcement to ensure it does not happen again.’’

In addition, the spokesperson said, following the closure of the refinery, all PFAS firefighting foam has now been removed from the site and the company no longer has an on-site fire-fighting training facility.

‘’As is acknowledged in the court’s sentencing decision, since this incident occurred we have acted quickly to undertake extensive testing around Marsden Pt, which indicated that there were no concentrations of the substance in nearby biota. The judge has also noted this in his findings.

“Given the large aquatic environment of Marsden Pt and the nearby ocean and harbour, the product would be significantly diluted, and despite multiple rounds of testing undertaken by Channel Infrastructure, there has been no concentrations of the substance found in nearby biota,’’ the spokesperson said.

‘’We have also undertaken prompt actions to improve the environment in the area, beyond remedying the discharge of the PFAS foam and have been working on this with our Iwi partners, Patuharakeke. We have taken this matter seriously, and with the PFAS firefighting foam now being permanently removed from site, this will not happen again.”

The EPA said Whangārei Harbour was valued for its environmental, cultural and economic significance to Northland, and particularly for its kaimoana and its role as an important nursery and feeding ground for commercial fish species. The harbour was also used for commercial vessel navigation and a wide variety of water recreation activities, it said.

In the Whangārei District Court during sentencing, Judge Jeff Smith said the emergency response trailer that was used in the training exercises was only intended to be used for emergency fires. He said the trailer indicated on it that it contained a fluorine-free foam but, in fact, it contained the PFAS foam.

The company had mechanisms in place to ensure the emergency response trailer was not used for training but the systems did not function as they should have, the judge said.