Charles Edward Francis Kidd (81) was sentenced in 2019 for discharging waste oil on land in circumstances where it may enter water.
The court heard the oil storage facility was part of a system that heated a pool at his property in Winton.
He was fined $25,000 and an enforcement order was made for the defendant to commission a report on the plant and provide it to the council.
Kidd paid the fine, but in May this year a jury at the Invercargill District Court found him guilty of breaching the 2019 enforcement order.
Instead of getting the report, he sold the plant that had caused the issue to a third party shortly after the first court case.
The defendant did not inform Environment Southland and failed to get a report as he was ordered to.
He argued this was because it was no longer in his possession.
Kidd said if he had known the enforcement order was going to be part of his sentence, he would never have pleaded guilty to the initial charge.
This month, he appeared in the Invercargill District Court for sentencing on the breach.
Counsel Sonia Vidal said the issues had been resolved by the sale of the plant as the purpose of the enforcement order was to ensure no further incidents occurred.
“For a right-thinking person it would seem quite pointless to commission a report on that plant... if it has ceased operating.
“There is a better outcome in that it is never going to be operated at that site again.”
Crown prosecutor Robin Bates said Kidd had “stood back and done nothing” during the three months he had to comply with the order.
Judge John Hassan said ignoring the order which had created difficulties for the enforcement body.
“Keeping the council in the dark resulted in costs and resource commitments into following this up that could've been avoided if he had informed the council that the plant had been sold to someone else.” he said.
The judge considered Kidd’s culpability, disrespect for the law and community harm that the offending caused.
“If we don't have respect for the rule of law in these areas, where do we end up?” he said.
He fined Kidd $15,000 and ordered him to pay court costs and solicitor fees.
