A New Zealand judge on Wednesday cleared the nation's emergency management agency of safety breaches related to the 2019 White Island volcano eruption, which claimed 22 lives.

Almost 50 people, mostly Australian tourists, were on the island, also known as Whakaari, when burning ash and steam blasted from a volcanic vent.

The eruption killed 22 people and injured 25 more, some of whom were left with horrific injuries.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was among 13 parties charged with breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Regulator WorkSafe New Zealand said the agency had failed to properly communicate the risks of an eruption to landowners and the public.

But an Auckland District Court judge dismissed charges against the crown agency.

Lawyers for the agency successfully argued the charge was "wholly misconceived".

Judge Evangelos Thomas agreed the agency could not be held accountable under New Zealand's work health and safety legislation.

"NEMA did not carry out any work physically on Whakaari, it did not send workers to Whakaari, it never placed any person on Whakaari," he said.

"Today's hearing is not about whether NEMA did its job properly - it may have, it may not have. It is only about whether WorkSafe can use this particular law to prosecute NEMA."

Eleven other parties have pleaded not guilty and will go to trial next year.

Last week, charter flight company Inflite admitted risk assessment failures.

The company was fined NZ$227,500 (US$147,000) and ordered to pay prosecution costs.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Researchers home in on Thera volcano eruption date
Tucson AZ (SPX) May 03, 2022
A University of Arizona tree-ring expert is closer than ever to pinning down the date of the infamous Thera volcano eruption - a goal she has pursued for decades. Charlotte Pearson, an associate professor in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, is lead author of a new paper in PNAS Nexus that combines a mosaic of techniques to confirm the source of a volcanic eruption in 1628 B.C. While the eruption was previously thought to be Thera on the Greek island of Santorini, Pearson and her colleagues fo ... read more