CONTAMINATED SITES ACT 2003 - SECT 25
CONTAMINATED SITES ACT 2003 - SECT 25
25 . Person who caused, or contributed to, contamination — responsibility for remediation
(1) A person is
responsible for remediation of a site to the extent that the person caused, or
contributed to, the contamination of the site after the commencement of this
Act.
(2) Subsection (1)
applies whether the contamination resulted from an act that was done with
lawful authority or without lawful authority.
(3) A person who
caused, or contributed to, the contamination of a site before the commencement
of this Act is responsible for remediation of the site only to the extent that
the person caused, or contributed to, that contamination by an act that was
done without lawful authority.
(4) This section does
not apply if the contamination resulted from a reasonable act that was carried
out in an emergency situation to save life or to protect property or the
environment.
(5) In this section
—
an act that was done without lawful authority ,
without limiting the meaning of the expression, includes an act —
(a) that
constituted an offence for which the person was convicted; or
(b) that
contravened —
(i)
any written law in force at the time the act occurred; or
(ii)
any contract, permit, lease, licence, standard, policy,
direction, exemption, authority, approval or requirement, however described,
that was given or made under a written law in force at the time the act
occurred.
(6) This section is
subject to sections 26 and 27.