An Auckland construction company has been fined $35,000 after sediment and concrete slurry repeatedly escaped from a residential building site into the city’s wider stormwater network.
UCon Construction Ltd was sentenced in the Auckland District Court after pleading guilty to three charges under the Resource Management Act, including discharging contaminants, breaching sediment control rules, and failing to comply with an abatement notice.
Between July and September 2024, sediment-laden water flowed off a five-townhouse development site in Royal Oak, travelling onto a nearby road and into a stormwater sump connected to Auckland's stormwater network.
Auckland Council had raised concerns during a site visit months earlier, with inspections finding sediment controls were inadequate. An abatement notice was issued, but the issues were not resolved.
Judge Jeff Smith said there was "no doubt that sediment continued to leave the property", despite some controls being put in place.
"The fact that the defendant did not improve their vigilance and oversight of the structures to ensure they did not fail is the more serious aspect of this offending," he said.
"While I accept that this may have been due more to inattention and lack of oversight than a wilful or deliberate attempt to subvert the rules, the effect was nevertheless that sediment continued to escape."
Smith said although the company attempted to clean up sediment after it had already spread, it did not excuse the breaches.
"It does show that there was at least an attempt to make good on some of the effects," he said.
The court adopted a starting point of a $50,000 fine, which was reduced to $35,000 after early guilty pleas and efforts to address the damage.
Auckland Council team leader investigations Paul Cowling said the case was a reminder developers must properly manage construction sites to prevent pollution entering waterways.
"Developers have a responsibility to ensure sediment stays on site, not in Auckland’s stormwater system," he said.
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