Heinz Watties fined $10,000

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Thursday 26th July 2001

Food company Heinz Watties has been convicted and fined $10,000 by the Environment Court in Napier.

The fine follows action by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council against the company for a spill of food waste into a local stream in September last year.

At court Judge Treadwell accepted that the discharge was not toxic and had no long-term effect, but says it did flow through a public drain that should not be carrying food wastes.

The company has been told that it should have a more sophisticated alarm system in place, and the fact that it had bought an old complex meant that it should have attended to the drainage networks promptly.

The judge says he considered a major company should not regard a fine as a licence fee to pollute so the fine must be of some consequence, prompting the higher amount of $10,000.

The regional council says previous cases awarded by the court have been in the order of $3,000 to $5,000.

The council says it is satisfied with the result because although the hazard from the pollutant was not great, there was an environmental impact.

"The fine and the judge's comments send a clear message to production companies that they need to get their house in order and have good procedures," the council says.

Heinz Watties is the Australasian subsidiary of US listed food giant, Heinz.

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