Attempt to have fuel spill charges dropped fails

Two companies alleged to have been involved in a fuel spill will have to defend charges after they failed to get them thrown out.

Three companies - Petrol Alley Services, URS New Zealand and Brown Bros (NZ) - were charged after a 2007 accident in which up to 10,000 litres of 91 octane were alleged to have spilled from a leaky pipe.

They deny charges of unauthorised discharge of a contaminant.
Yesterday, Auckland District Court Judge Fred McElrea said two of the defendants, URS and Brown Bros, could be liable even though they had not been on the site for several months before the alleged spill.

Lawyers for the two companies had argued their clients could not be liable because they had no control over the site or the fuel at the time of the alleged spill.

The judge's ruling means all three companies will have to defend the charges.