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Monday, 18 January 2021, 12:28 pm
Seven separate court cases against Waikato farmers and
businesses have found that they each unlawfully discharged
farm effluent into the environment.
The cases have
been sentenced over the last three months, with the final
case being made public today, resulting in convictions and a
total of $318,025 in fines. The prosecutions were taken by
Waikato Regional Council under the Resource Management
Act.
“Farming is obviously a huge and vital industry
that contributes to this region’s economy and communities
in many ways,” said council regional compliance manager,
Patrick Lynch.
“The farming enterprises that feature
in these seven cases reflect a very small portion of that
A Waikato Regional Council officer inspects the extent of effluent pollution at a farm. Judge Melinda Dickey convicted the company in Tokoroa District Court on January 18 and fined it $46,900. The council was alerted to the incident by a member of the public. The highest fine was given to Taupō dairy farmer John Richard Lockwood, who was fined $80,500 for over applying effluent three times – in September and October 2019, and August 2020. He was convicted by Judge David Kirkpatrick in the Taupō District Court on December 1, 2020. In another case, a contract milker allowed effluent to flow into Matapara Stream, which ultimately runs to the Pūniu River.