A DAM engineer, who started his career in Toowoomba, has been fined $1500 for working unregistered while working to mitigate Brisbane's worst flood since the 1970s.
John Lawrence Ruffini, 47, was a duty flood engineer responsible for the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams flood mitigation using modelling and other tools between January 7 and 17 when there was significant flooding in south-east Queensland.
Magistrate Anne Thacker said Ruffini had been a well-regarded engineer since 1982 and had provided services to the community as a flood engineer since 1997.
She said the necessity for registration in the latter role came into force in 2002.
Ms Thacker said there was an argument that the state was "over-registered" but the "the whole purpose of registration is linked to public safety".
"The evidence across the board is that the best that could be done was done at the time to mitigate the floods," she said, but acknowledged the case came down to registration.
Daniel Piggott, acting for the Queensland Board of Professional Engineers, had told Brisbane Magistrates Court that Ruffini was sent a renewal notice and reminder about his registration in 2010.
He said there was a legislative requirement that a person in charge of such responsibilities at the dams must be registered with the board.
Mr Piggott said this legislation was in place to ensure public safety during a flood event and to maintain "public confidence" in engineers undertaking such a task.
Barrister Alan MacSporran said his client was in hospital just before his registration lapsed and then spent several months recovering.
He said Ruffini did not realise it had lapsed until it was revealed during a public inquiry into the floods. "It was the last thing on his mind when he was called up to help with this crisis," he said.
Mr MacSporran said reviews found the dam engineers were "prudent and showed considerable insight" in the way they handled the crisis. He said Ruffini had a full-time government job as water planning and coastal services director and only took on the dam role during emergencies.
He said the lapse was "a technical breach" and did not warrant a monetary penalty to send a message.
"It had absolutely no bearing on the work he lined up for and did perform in January last year," he said.
Ruffini must pay $2578 court costs.
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