Distiller who released ethanol discharged
A head distiller who released $40,000 of flammable ethanol on site after losing his job says it was a “stupid mistake” blown out of proportion.
After his role at Reefton Distilling was disestablished in March last year, Angus William Hay, 39, went to the rear of the distillery and opened the valves on two 5000-litre tanks of ethanol.
About 6880 litres of the highly flammable substance was released and evaporated.
Hay was granted a discharge without conviction at the Christchurch District Court last Wednesday. Following this and being ordered to pay $3452 in reparations to the distillery, Hay provided a statement to The Press. He claimed the infrastructure, equipment and personnel at Reefton Distilling did not reflect what he had been told when he took the job in 2021, but that he dealt with this “through some severe adversity”.
He was employed to build and establish a new distillery at the site that had already been purchased, but he said the equipment came from China and was not fit for purpose.
Hay claimed he still managed to “single-handedly” set up a supply chain of goods into Reefton to produce a “world class” single malt whiskey with “next to no budget”.
“None of this was easy, but I happen to be quite good at what I do.”
In a victim impact statement provided to the court, distillery chief executive Patsy Bass spoke of becoming concerned early on with Hay’s “obvious heavy drinking”. He was argumentative, loathed accountability and “delivered little,” Bass said. His role was eventually disestablished.
Hay claimed he was given unachievable tasks with short time frames, and said he was often told he was doing the wrong thing. He said he decided to leave the business, but when his employer found out about his intentions, his job at Reefton Distilling was disestablished.
“I will stress at this point that I had not been involved in any disciplinary actions, meetings or advisories.”
On his last day of employment, Hay said he “did a stupid thing” by walking onto the site, unlocking a valve at the base of the ethanol tanks and releasing its contents into the concrete bund below.
“I have taken full responsibility for it, but it was idiotic, unprofessional and completely out of character … the intention of which was purely inconvenience.”
“It has been a harrowing ordeal for me.”