Taupō companies fined for unlawfully discharging animal effluent into the environment
28 Apr, 2021 01:42 AM
4 minutes to read
A council officer takes samples of ponded effluent on a farm at Oruanui, north of Taupō. Photo / Supplied
A council officer takes samples of ponded effluent on a farm at Oruanui, north of Taupō. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua Daily Post
A Taupō-based farming company, a company director, and an effluent spreading company have been convicted and fined a total of $194,250 for unlawfully discharging animal effluent into the environment from three large dairy farming operations.
The sentence was imposed by Judge Jeff Smith in Tokoroa District Court and relates to the repeated unlawful discharge of animal effluent between November 7, 2019, and March 2, 2020.
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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.