A judge today reserved his decision on the penalty to be imposed against the operators of the Tui oil field for a spill that polluted 13km coastline south of New Plymouth last October.
Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE) and Prosafe Production, which runs the floating production and storage offtake vessel Umuroa, had admitted a charge under the Maritime Transport Act of illegally discharging a harmful substance into the sea.
They were charged after a Maritime New Zealand investigation sourced the 23,000-litre spill to the Umuroa. Each company could be fined up to $200,000.
Both companies made early guilty pleas and AWE paid for the $115,000 clean-up undertaken by Taranaki Regional Council.
Judge Stan Thorburn heard submissions from counsel representing the two companies and MNZ today, before reserving his decision.
General manager of MNZ's Marine Pollution Response Service, Nick Quinn, thanked the regional council, along with the Taranaki community, local specialist groups and iwi, who had all helped with the clean-up.
"These groups worked very hard to ensure the spill had as little impact on the local environment as possible. Their contribution and co-operation was invaluable to Maritime New Zealand and to the response operation's ultimate success."
Mr Quinn said the actions of AWE and Prosafe in quickly acknowledging the problem and assisting with the clean-up and investigation were also commendable.
The Tui field is producing about $7 million worth of oil a day.
