Land and Environment Court of NSW recently convicted Aargus Pty Ltd and two of its employees for failing to reveal the existence of asbestos in a pile of soil that was classified as waste.
Aargus, and its employees; Kariotoglou and Kelly, all pleaded guilty to charges of breaching section 144AA of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) (POEO Act), by providing deceptive and misleading information regarding waste that contained the deadly substance, asbestos.
Justice Craig convicted all responsible parties, and fined the company $30,000. Kariotoglou ( the project manager) was fined $9000, and Kelly (environmental manager) was fined $3000.
by supplying false or misleading information regarding waste – in this case, waste containing asbestos. As a result, the judgment of Justice Craig was limited to determining the appropriate sentence.
Aargus was ordered to pay 50% of the EPA’s legal costs, while Kariotoglou and Kelly were ordered to pay 30% and 20% respectively.
A clean up notice was issued, and the site awaits a costly fix.
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Source: http://www.nortonrose.com/au/knowledge/publications/78452/employees-beware-both-company-and-two-employees-fined-for-supplying-false-information-about-waste-containing-asbestos