Forestry management consultant PF Olsen is fighting to avoid a Resource Management Act conviction in a precedent setting case heard in Tauranga this week.

PF Olsen Limited faces two charges under the Resource Management Act 1991. One of disturbing exotic and plantation vegetation in an erosion hazard zone and one charge of discharging contaminant onto land in circumstances which may have resulted in that contaminant entering water.
The charges date from April 15-17, 2008, when five slash piles (piles of tree limbs and bark) collapsed following heavy rain in a harvest area of the Waiotahe Forest near Opotiki. Large amounts of slash, debris and sediment slid down from ridges into valleys and streams.
On April 18, 2008, Environment Bay of Plenty received a complaint that debris from PF Olsen Ltd's collapsed skid sites (level areas created by bulldozers and used for processing felled trees) blocked streams on an adjacent property.
EBOP claims the collapse of the skid sites caused significant erosion and that at least two streams in the area were completely blocked in places and partially blocked in others with a combination of woody debris, sediment and logs.
PF Olsen has not entered a formal plea. The legal issue is whether a conviction can be recorded for an RMA prosecution.
PF Olsen is arguing the offence is an infringement and that people found guilty of infringements cannot be convicted for the same offence.
Environment Bay of Plenty says that under the RMA it can either issue an infringement notice, or prosecute where there is serious environmental damage.
The case is important legally as it will set a precedent for several other cases on the same issue, currently before higher courts. Judge Smith is expected to deliver his verdict within a week.