Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts36. Recovery of costs and expenses of removal of undesirable substance, &c.
(1) Where an undesirable substance is put, falls or flows into or on the Port, the Port Corporation may take such action as it thinks fit to remove, disperse, destroy or mitigate the damage caused by, the undesirable substance.
(2) The Port Corporation may recover as a debt due and payable to it, and notwithstanding that proceedings for an offence against section 34 have not been taken, the costs incurred by it in taking action under subsection (1) from the person who put the undesirable substance, or allowed the undesirable substance to fall or flow, into or on the Port, or from the owner or master of the vessel, the occupier of the place on land, or the person in charge of the apparatus, from which the undesirable substance was put or fell or flowed into or on the Port and if there is more than one such person, from any of them jointly or severally.
(3) Where an undesirable substance has been removed under subsection (1), the Port Corporation may, if it thinks fit, sell the undesirable substance or any part of it and out of the proceeds of sale recover the costs incurred by it in taking action under that subsection, together with the costs and expenses of the sale, but -
(a) nothing in this subsection shall prevent the destruction, dispersal or disposal (otherwise than by sale) of the whole or any part of the undesirable substance in any manner by the Port Corporation as it thinks fit;
(b) before selling the undesirable substance, the Port Corporation shall in writing demand payment by the person or, if more than one, one of the persons from whom they are recoverable under this section, of the costs incurred by it in taking action under subsection (1), and the undesirable substance shall not be sold until the expiration of 14 days after the demand is made;
(c) where, before the expiration of the time referred to in paragraph (b), the costs of removal are repaid in full to the Port Corporation and a person produces to the Port Corporation reasonable evidence of ownership of the undesirable substance, the undesirable substance shall be released by the Port Corporation to that person; and
(d) where the undesirable substance is sold under this subsection, the part, if any, of the net proceeds of sale remaining after the costs incurred in taking action under subsection (1) and the costs and expenses of the sale have been paid and recovered by the Port Corporation under this subsection -
(i) shall be held by the Port Corporation in a trust fund for 12 months and during that time may be paid by it to a person who produces reasonable evidence of ownership of the undesirable substance at the time of the sale; and
(ii) if not so paid during that time, shall be paid to and become part of the revenue of the Port Corporation.
(4) The rights conferred on the Port Corporation by this section shall be in addition to and not in derogation of or in substitution for any other rights which the Port Authority is entitled to exercise or pursue.