The charges were brought by the Waikato Regional Council.
In a statement, regional council compliance manager Patrick Lynch said: “We look to larger farm operations and professional spreading companies to lead the industry and set examples of best practice … It is fair to say that both the regulator and the wider dairy industry are very disappointed with the breaches uncovered across this substantial farming enterprise.”
At a monitoring inspection at the 1150 cow Gardon operation at Oruanui on November 26, 2019 regional council staff found an effluent irrigation hydrant had been discharging dairy shed effluent over a long period so that it was ponding near the hydrant. A travelling irrigator operating earlier that day had also been over-irrigating effluent onto already wet soils, resulting in further ponding.