Trust in hot water for cooling tower
THE owners of GMHBA Stadium have been slapped with a good behaviour bond for failing to register a cooling tower.
Kardinia Park Stadium Trust was fined $1000 yesterday — but avoided a conviction — after pleading guilty to a single charge in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court.
The Department of Health and Human Services took the statutory body to court after it was tipped off that the Trust had not registered the cooling tower between February and August last year.
The system was installed in April 2017 while GMHBA Stadium was undergoing the fourth stage of major redevelopment works.
The Trust, through its lawyer, told the court it was not aware of its obligation to register the tower when it was given control of the stadium in May 2017.
“We didn’t know about it,” the lawyer said.
The Trust had initially contested the charge against it before choosing to enter a guilty plea yesterday.
The court heard the department launched an investigation into the unregistered tower after a “disaffected person” notified it of a potential offence.
The Trust’s lawyer argued that the failure to register the system constituted a regulatory breach and that there were no safety issues stemming from the violation.
“Everything is being looked after and maintained properly,” the lawyer said. “From the day we took over, we have made sure that everything is in order.”
But prosecutor Kylie Walsh, for the department, said the breach could have exposed the public to risks if there had been an airborne disease outbreak.
Ms Walsh said the department required cooling towers to be registered so it could investigate and take action in case there was an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.
Legionella bacteria can be transmitted to humans through cooling towers associated with airconditioning systems.
The court heard such an outbreak would lead the department to take samples from the cooling tower before disinfecting it to immediately stop the disease spreading further.
Ms Walsh argued for the Trust to be handed a penalty that would deter others from committing similar offences.
“The sentencing today needs to send a message to the community, because it is more than a mere regulatory breach,” she said.
But Magistrate Michael Smith said he did not believe a conviction was warranted in the circumstances.
Kardinia Park Stadium Trust chairman Michael Malouf was in court for yesterday’s hearing, alongside recently appointed chief executive Gerard Griffin.