Sherwood v The ANI Corporation Limited [1988] NSWLEC 147

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Sherwood v The ANI Corporation Limited [1988] NSWLEC 147 APPICANT Sherwood PARTIES : RESPONDENT The ANI Corporation Limited FILE NUMBER(S) : 50019 of 1985 CORAM: Cripps J KEY ISSUES: :- LEGISLATION CITED: The Clean Air Act CASES CITED: DATES OF HEARING: DATE OF JUDGMENT: 11/22/1988

RESPONDENT LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: Mr Cox Mr Ambler

JUDGMENT:

His Honour: Yesterday I dismissed four charges brought by Mr Sherwood on behalf of the State Pollution Control Commission against ANI with respect to offences under s 14(2) and I now formally dismiss the summonses.

So far as the remaining four charges are concerned, charges 1 and 4 have been the subject of a plea and I shall return to these matters later.

Charges 2 and 3 have been subject of further evidence after I rejected a submission on behalf of the Corporation that no prima facie case had been established, that is that there had been no case to answer.

It is true, as Mr Hall has submitted, that the evidence was much the same as it was at the end of the prosecution case with perhaps the charge of failing to control equipment, being the wet cap scrubber on the northern cupola, the evidence in chief and in the defendant's case persuades me that what occurred was the blow out of the ring spray at the joining flange. That resulted in a jet of water penetrating the water veil over the wet cap with the result that blue smoke was emitted, as seen by Mr Sherwood. Later Mr Cox, an employee, was asked about the matter. I assume he had some understanding of what had taken place, and he said: "I had inspected the cupola wet cap yesterday while it was in operation. The ring spray was fractured at the joining flange. The leaking water was under such pressure and of such volume being supplied by 3 inch water pipe from a supply pump that it was colliding with and disrupting the water curtain over the wet cap". He vouchsafed no reason why the ring spray should have fractured , or indeed what knowledge the company had, if any, concerning the matter other than that stated.