Tauranga man receives large fines for burning demolition debris in Rotorua

A Tauranga man has been prosecuted for burning demolition waste material, some containing asbestos, at a residential subdivision site in Rotorua in June 2018.

Kevin John Davies pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Tauranga District Court to $ 14,000 in fines, including a $ 9,000 fine and a $ 5,000 repair that he must pay to affected neighbors.

A statement from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council said the crime involved two separate fires, with the second occurring after a regional council compliance officer had already been on the scene the same day in response to a complaint about the fire.

The fires were lit to remove debris from two houses demolished on the site and contained plastics, carpet, insulation, and some asbestos.

The burning of these materials was prohibited.

In addition to environmental impacts, the burning of prohibited materials could have an impact on human health, as highlighted in this case by orders that Davies should pay a repair to affected neighbors.

In his sentencing decision, Judge JA Smith said he was “puzzled” as to why Davies, a former senior firefighter, decided to burn the demolition materials rather than take them to a landfill and noted that doing so had not saved costs.

Judge Smith said the case should deter others who thought that fire was a simple way to dispose of materials they did not want.

The fire occurred in urban Rotorua, a polluted air shed with a history of air quality problems, in which the regional council and the community had invested and worked hard to try to improve, according to the statement.

Cleaner air affects the health of the community, especially the young, the elderly and people with respiratory diseases. Children are the most vulnerable as they breathe faster than adults and therefore absorb more pollutants.

On average, a person inhales around 14,000 liters of air every day and when the air that people breathe is polluted, it affects their health.

Justice Smith highlighted these broader consequences for the Rotorua community.

“This is one of the worst airshed in New Zealand and the discharge of these toxins into the air in Rotorua is serious business.”

Regional council compliance manager Alex Miller said the violation was “unforgivable” and undermined the community’s efforts to clean Rotorua’s air.

“Burning waste to reduce costs means that the environment and human health ultimately pay the price and this accusation shows that it is not acceptable,” he said.

Open burning within 100m of a neighboring home was not permitted in urban and rural areas in the Bay of Plenty.

Background

• Open burning poses a threat to the health and safety of the environment and cannot occur within 100 meters of a neighboring home for both rural and urban properties. For details on the relevant Regional Air Plan rules, visit the regional council website.

• There have been 573 open burning complaints in the Bay of Plenty during the past 12 months to date. That has accounted for 15 percent of all complaints to the Pollution Hotline and 108 of those complaints were from Rotorua.