A Bay of Plenty Vehicle dismantlers has been fined $38,000 for discharging motor oil and fluids onto the ground at a property leased in Ngongotaha.

Charges against ANZ Auto Parts Limited relate to discharging contaminants onto or into land in circumstances where they may enter water.

A member of the public called the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to report seeing an oily discharge at a storm water outfall into Lake Rotorua in winter 2015.

An investigation found that oily storm water was flowing into Lake Rotorua and the sheen could be seen extending about 150m into the lake.

The oily storm water was traced by Council officers back to ANZ Auto Parts Limited. When they visited the ANZ site the council staff found oil leaking from numerous sources such as car engines and an overflow tray.

The cesspit, intended to collect storm water, was completely inundated with hydrocarbon contaminated sediment. The oil filter cloth that was supposed to collect any oil residue in the cesspit, was torn and ineffective, says a statement from the Regional Council.

Three abatement notices were later issued requiring ANZ Auto Parts Limited and its director to cease discharging oil and fluids to land at their site, and to prohibit them from commencing their operation at a new address.

The Waikaraka Street site has since been cleared. Image: Google Maps.

Samples collected during Council visits to ANZ Auto Parts' site later revealed copper, lead and zinc were up to six times above the guideline levels set by the Australian New Zealand Environmental Conservation Council.

Concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons at the site exceeded these guidelines by up to 200 times.

The offending occurred between May 23 and July 29, 2015.

'Lake Rotorua is sacred to Maori and incredibly special to the wider Rotorua community. It's also home to a number of threatened indigenous flora and fauna,” says Regional Council senior pollution prevention officer John Holst.

'Storm water drains are for storm water only and this company should have known better.

'Pollution events like this are a slap in the face for the volunteers, community groups and Councils working hard to improve water quality.”

ANZ Auto Parts Limited was sentenced by District Court and Environment Judge Melanie Harland in Tauranga on November 8, 2016.