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Abstract
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Volcanologists have applauded a judges' decision to dismiss one of two criminal charges against New Zealand's Earth-science research agency, GNS Science. The charges were laid in the wake of a fatal 2019 volcanic eruption on Whakaari White Island, a popular tourist destination, that killed 22 people and injured 25 others.
GNS Science issues volcanic alert bulletins for the country's active volcanoes, which are disseminated to the media, emergency-response agencies and to the public through a service called GeoNet. The dismissed charge alleged that GNS Science should have coordinated with tour operators and other agencies and reviewed its volcanic alert bulletins to ensure they effectively communicated the implications of volcanic activity on Whakaari White Island.
With the charge dismissed, scientific organizations that provide information on public health and safety risks can now "breathe a bit of a sigh of relief", says Simon Connell, a lawyer and specialist in accident law at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
The legal reprieve comes after a judge dismissed a similar case against the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in May, because its workplace health and safety obligations do not extend to the tourists and tour operators harmed in the eruption. The ruling did not consider whether NEMA had done its job properly.
That decision significantly weakened the case against GNS Science. And on 6 October, WorkSafe New Zealand, the country's workplace health and safety regulator, consented to the agency's application to have the charge dismissed.
The regulator has also charged GNS Science with having failed to ensure the health and safety of helicopter pilots that it hired to take its employees to the island. This charge will go to trial, and carries a penalty of a fine of up to NZ$1.5 million (US$844,000). GNS Science has pleaded not guilty...
Language: en |