Fines and Prosecutions - BlueScope Steel HSEC Report 2004

Health, Safety, Environment and Community Report 2004

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Fines and Prosecutions

BlueScope Steel notified relevant authorities of 76 breaches of environmental regulations occurring in the Company's operations in Australia during 2003/2004.

The Company employs a Consequence Severity Ranking Scale to define the effects of environmental incidents. There are five categories in this scale, ranging from low, where there is no detectable effect on the environment, to critical, where habitat suffers long term damage or is destroyed.

There were no incidents causing significant environmental harm (ie the top three categories of the Consequence Severity Ranking Scale) during 2003/2004.

During the year, the Company was fined $70,500 under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1977 (NSW) ('PEO Act') over an incident at the Port Kembla Steelworks in October 2001 that caused contamination of Allans Creek, a fish kill and air emissions. Additional environmental fines totalling $6,000 were incurred in 2003/04.

The Company was prosecuted by the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation in relation to one Tier 2 offence under the PEO Act for failure to maintain equipment following emissions to air arising from a loss of power to the Port Kembla Steelworks in March 2003. A fine of $70,000 was received in respect of that prosecution after the close of the financial year.

Total Number of Environmentally Significant Incidents

Fines ($A)

Prosecutions and On-The-Spot Fines