Torquay flower grower fined over 2020 hazardous gas leak

A Surf Coast commercial flower grower has been sentenced after a hazardous gas leak in 2020.

A Torquay commercial flower grower has been fined $70,000 over an incident that exposed nearby residents to hazardous gas leaving many with breathing difficulties, headaches, nausea and vomiting.

The Environment Protection Authority charged I, C & J Santospirito Pty Ltd with two pollution charges after the June 2020 incident, which involved a chemical called Metham Sodium being used on agricultural land at 200 Coombes Road.

EPA investigators working with Surf Coast Shire Council and other agencies found the chemical was being used to prepare ground for a new crop, but had been incorrectly applied and reacted with moist soil to produce methyl isothiocyanate (MITC) which is a hazardous gas.

They found that wind drift took the gas into the nearby Ocean Acres and Frog Hollow residential estates.

Three people were taken to hospital by ambulance and a fourth person transported himself to hospital.

Volunteer crews of the Torquay CFA Brigade and a CFA hazmat unit from Lara responded to the incident and the council received 53 reports of a chemical gas odour from residents over two days.

Metham Sodium is listed as a Schedule 6 poison, with a dangerous goods classification DG 8, corrosive. The official Metham Sodium safety datasheet says MITC is volatile and causes severe skin burns and eye damage.

The company pleaded guilty to two EPA charges under the Environment Protection Act 1970.

Magistrate Simon Guthrie said the penalty took into account the company’s early plea of guilty, its co-operation with the investigation at all times, its prior good record, and what appeared to be genuine remorse and attention to the impact on the community.

The company was fined without conviction and was also ordered to pay EPA’s legal costs of $7,582.40 and publicise the offending in local newspapers.

Originally published as Torquay flower grower fined over 2020 hazardous gas leak