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Wivenhoe Dam: Flood engineer John Ruffini is facing a criminal charge for not being registered with his professional body during the 2011 floods. |
FLOOD engineer John Ruffini is facing a criminal charge for not being registered with his professional body during the 2011 floods.
The Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland is prosecuting Mr Ruffini in the Brisbane Magistrates Court under the Professional Engineers Act for providing a professional engineering service while not being registered.
If found guilty, he faces a fine of up to $110,000.
It is the first time anyone has been prosecuted in relation to the management of the state's dams during the floods.
The flood inquiry last year found that Mr Ruffini's failure to register with the board had been a "technical breach" of the dam operations manual for Wivenhoe and Somerset dams.
The complaint, filed this week, alleged that between January 7 and January 17, Mr Ruffini "being a person who was not a registered professional engineer, carried out professional engineering services in breach of section 115(1) of the Act".
It details the shifts Mr Ruffini worked during the crisis and the flood directives and reports he wrote while he was the duty flood operations engineer.
The complaint also cites a requirement in the dam manual in use at the time, but later removed, that all flood engineers be registered with the board.
The matter will be heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on September 26.
Mr Ruffini and the Board of Professional Engineers both declined to comment.
The flood inquiry referred three of Mr Ruffini's flood engineer colleagues to the Crime and Misconduct Commission in March over an alleged cover-up.
But the CMC last month said a flaw in the manual could have explained apparent inconsistencies in their evidence and dropped the case.
The flood inquiry also found that: "There is no suggestion the lack of registration had any effect on the operation of the dams."
Seqwater revised the manual after the flood inquiry's interim report, removing the requirement for all flood engineers to be registered with the board.
Under the current manual, only "senior" flood operations engineers need hold the qualification.
Mr Ruffini, who worked at the Department of Environment and Resource Management during the floods and remains a state government employee, re-registered with the board this year.
As a registered engineer, Mr Ruffini could also face disciplinary action in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal for alleged violations of the code of practice.
FLOOD engineer John Ruffini is facing a criminal charge for not being registered with his professional body during the 2011 floods.
The Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland is prosecuting Mr Ruffini in the Brisbane Magistrates Court under the Professional Engineers Act for providing a professional engineering service while not being registered.
If found guilty, he faces a fine of up to $110,000.
It is the first time anyone has been prosecuted in relation to the management of the state's dams during the floods.
The flood inquiry last year found that Mr Ruffini's failure to register with the board had been a "technical breach" of the dam operations manual for Wivenhoe and Somerset dams.
The complaint, filed this week, alleged that between January 7 and January 17, Mr Ruffini "being a person who was not a registered professional engineer, carried out professional engineering services in breach of section 115(1) of the Act".
It details the shifts Mr Ruffini worked during the crisis and the flood directives and reports he wrote while he was the duty flood operations engineer.
The complaint also cites a requirement in the dam manual in use at the time, but later removed, that all flood engineers be registered with the board.
The matter will be heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on September 26.
Mr Ruffini and the Board of Professional Engineers both declined to comment.
The flood inquiry referred three of Mr Ruffini's flood engineer colleagues to the Crime and Misconduct Commission in March over an alleged cover-up.
But the CMC last month said a flaw in the manual could have explained apparent inconsistencies in their evidence and dropped the case.
The flood inquiry also found that: "There is no suggestion the lack of registration had any effect on the operation of the dams."
Seqwater revised the manual after the flood inquiry's interim report, removing the requirement for all flood engineers to be registered with the board.
Under the current manual, only "senior" flood operations engineers need hold the qualification.
Mr Ruffini, who worked at the Department of Environment and Resource Management during the floods and remains a state government employee, re-registered with the board this year.
As a registered engineer, Mr Ruffini could also face disciplinary action in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal for alleged violations of the code of practice.
www.CourierMail.com.au
6.9.12
