You must notify us as soon as possible after the incident occurs.
Notification to the administering authority must occur within 24 hours of the person responsible for notifying becoming aware of an incident that may have caused or threatens serious or material environmental harm.
You can notify us in any of the following ways:
- Email us your completed Section 14 Incident Report Form DOCX (57.3 KB)
- Submit an Online Pollution Report
- Contact the Pollution Hotline on 1800 064 567.
Read more about your environmental obligations and duties.
How to report an incident
Written notice to the department (as the administering authority)
The Section 14 Incident Report Form DOCX (57.3 KB) should be used for providing written notice to the department when a person becomes aware of an incident that may have caused or threatens serious or material environmental harm.
When reporting an incident you are to give us as much of the following information as you can:
- what happened (the incident)
- where the incident occurred
- the date and time of the incident
- how the pollution is occurring, or if it is not yet happening, how you think it may occur
- the attempts being made to:
- prevent
- reduce
- control
- rectify or clean up the pollution and
- address any environmental harm
- your identity.
If you report the incident within 24 hours we can't use the report as evidence to take legal action against you.
You do not have to make a report if the potential pollution or environmental harm is trivial or negligible, or if the incident results in only localised:
- noise
- smoke
- dust
- fumes or
- odour.
Generally you will need to make a report if there has been a spill of a contaminant or waste (such as hydrocarbons, paint, pesticides, or other toxic chemicals), and the spill:
- has entered a waterway (including a drain)
- spread more than three metres or
- left your premises.
If you are unsure about making a report, contact us.
If written notice is required to be given to the occupiers or registered owners of affected land, the person responsible for giving that written notice can use this form as a guide for what information to give.
Calling the NT EPA Pollution Hotline
In addition to providing the written notice, if a person becomes aware of an event which has caused or threatens serious or material environmental harm, the person should immediately call the Pollution Hotline on 1800 064 567 and report the event.
Reporting the event through the Pollution Hotline allows the department to take necessary measures to prevent further harm and to mitigate the effects of an incident or event.
Reported section 14 incidents
View all the section 14 incidents reported to the NT EPA.