A POLLUTER must pay $50,000 towards revegetation and other work in the Plenty River Gorge wetlands after spilling apricot and beetroot juice concentrate into a Plenty River tributary.
A court ordered Golden Circle to pay Friends of the Gorge, which under the umbrella of Parks Victoria will re-introduce the endangered growling grass frog to the wetlands.
Ranger Mick Francis said the frogs were believed to have become extinct in the area in 2007 because of drought, but this had to be proved conclusively. He said the money would be spent on revegetation, controlling weeds and pests, and drought-proofing the wetlands from Wilton Vale Creek to the Plenty River. The spillage was serious and had killed aquatic life, including fish, he said.
The Environment Protection Authority prosecuted Golden Circle, which pleaded guilty to a water pollution charge on November 9, according to a company statement the court ordered it to publish. “The discharge [on March 28, 2011] was caused when two drums individually containing beetroot concentrate and apricot concentrate were accidentally knocked over by a forklift driver at the premises at Mill Park,” according to the statement. “Approximately 40 litres of concentrate spilled into a stormwater drain on the premises that led to the Plenty River tributary.”
The company has changed its procedures to improve its spill control system.
