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A Waikato company and two of its employees have been hit with record fines for breaching the Resource Management Act by illegally burying toxic waste.
The sentencing follows last year's defended hearing at which Wallace Corporation and senior employees Neville Cross and Barry Dew were found guilty on a range of charges related to the burial of highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The PCBs - linked to causing cancer - were inside old electrical equipment buried during the construction of a building in 1998 at the company's site at Waitoa, 12km northeast of Morrinsville.
Use of PCBs is heavily restricted in New Zealand. They cannot be legally disposed of here, and must be sent overseas for destruction.
In a reserved decision, Environment Court Judge Fred McElrea fined Mr Cross and Mr Dew $45,000 and $40,000 respectively.
Wallace Corp itself, described as having a low level of culpability for the offending, was fined $35,000.
All up, the three defendants were ordered to pay fines of $120,000, plus costs.
Environment Waikato's complaints and enforcement manager Rob Dragten described the judge's decision as "excellent".
"It was a very well thought out, sensible, pragmatic decision," he told Radio New Zealand.
The judge has also ordered Wallace Corp to promptly locate and remove the toxic material from where it is buried, "and to spare no expense in doing so".
Removal of the PCBs from under the building could now cost Wallace Corp "six figures", but would only have cost about $6000 if it had removed the material before construction began, Mr Dragten said.
While PCBs were slow to break down, the chemicals could potentially cause a risk in the future if they were not cleaned up and eventually entered waterways, Mr Dragten said.
"PCBs are a ticking environmental timebomb."
Environment Waikato would closely monitor Wallace Corp's plans to remove the PCBs.
"We just hope that the company puts as much time and effort into locating and removing the contamination as they have into defending the charges," Mr Dragten said.
Wallace Corporation chief executive Graham Shortland said he believed the company had "strong grounds" for appealing the conviction and penalties and was taking legal advice.
- NZPA
