 The sentencing judge said that to some extent the pair were "victims" as it was Ao who initiated the bribe.A 2016 investigation by Hong Kong's Environmental Protection Department (EPD) found that SITA failed to meet their contractual obligation to maintain a minimum temperature of 1,000°C for the flaring of landfill gas in the leachate treatment plant at the closed Pillar Point Valley Landfill, in an attempt to save fuel expenditure.As a result, up to 800 tonnes of polluted water (landfill leachate) was discharged into the sea per day from November 2015 to January 2016.