Practical measures which may have been taken to prevent, control, abate or mitigate the harm
38 The prosecutor submitted that there were a number of practical measures that may have been taken and which, if taken, would have controlled or mitigated the harm arising from an incident of the kind which is the subject of the present charge. Those suggested measures include:
(i) installation of filters, screens, alarms or other devices, such as a first flush system, allowing the defendant to prevent, control or be aware of the flow of materials from the onsite stormwater system to the offsite stormwater system;
(ii) regular physical inspections, beyond visual inspections, of the contents of the onsite stormwater pits;
(iii) regular cleaning of the onsite stormwater system;
(iv) regular visual inspections of the Peel River adjacent to the WAN premises;
(v) installation of more precise level monitoring equipment on the VAO tank; and
(vi) bunding of all input and output areas associated with the handling of vegetable, oil and tallow.
39 It is further suggested that discharge of pollutant from steam line pipes could have been controlled and any pollution incident mitigated if measures had been taken which include:
(i) isolating steam line pipes from the onsite stormwater system;
(ii) physically sampling or otherwise testing the condensate from the steam line pipes;
(iii) pressure testing of the steam line pipes;
(iv) re-designing the outlet from the condensate discharge pipe so that the material being discharged into the relevant pit could more readily be inspected; and
(v) internal inspections of the VAO tank, including the system of steam pipes contained within it, at intervals more frequent than annual inspections.
40 The defendant takes issue with some of these measures as being practical. However, it must first be noted that at least two of the identified measures were implemented subsequent to the incident. They involved the diversion of condensate from the steam pipes so as to cause that condensate to be discharged and collected in an intermediate bulk container unit, thereby avoiding its direct entry into the stormwater system. It also introduced a regime of inspection of the contents of that bulk container unit to determine the presence of any pollutant prior to the contents of the unit being discharged.
41 While it is not disputed that the defendant had the means to implement the measures identified by the prosecutor, it disputes that at least some of those were practical measures that it could have taken. It has identified a regime of regular inspection of the components of all operations that were being carried out at the WAN premises at the time of the incident. It had in place an environmental management plan which included a stormwater and effluent management procedure. This required weekly visual inspections of the condensate discharge point and the pit which received discharge from this pipe. A senior employee engaged at the WAN premises would, several times per week, inspect tanks, drains, steam pipes and pits.
42 There was also in place a maintenance regime for tanks, steam pipes and the boiler. Basic checks for leaks from pumps and pipes were performed when pumps were first operated each morning.
43 However, before the integrity of steam pipes located within tanks could be inspected, including those located within the VAO tank, it was first necessary for each tank to be drained of product. The inspection regime adopted by the defendant for this purpose involved draining of the tank on an annual basis for a period of 3 weeks so as to enable the tank and its internal infrastructure to be examined. It was impractical, so the defendant contended, for that exercise to have been undertaken more frequently. The impracticality of so doing was not specified although it was implied that it would have been a costly exercise and that had it been done with greater frequency, there is no certainty that the hole in the steam pipe of present interest would have been discovered.
44 Further, the defendant submits that had there been a leak in the steam pipes, this could be expected to have manifested itself in the following ways;
(i) a soapy substance being present in the boiler tubes as a result of the material in the VAO tank being drawn back to the boiler through the hole in the pipe;
(ii) water being present in the material being pumped from the VAO tank due to the steam entering that tank through the leakage point; or
(iii) solidification of the contents of the VAO tank where insufficient heat was being delivered so as to keep the contents viscous, with the result that the pipes delivering the tank contents to the mixing hopper would clog with solidified material.