Piggery effluent polluting stream
Waikato Regional Council has sought an interim Enforcement Order from the Environment Court to stop piggery effluent from entering a waterway north of Te Aroha.
A Coromandel farmer was fined $72,750 for deliberately discharging dairy effluent into farm drains that flow to the Tairua River on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Peter Craig Darrah was convicted and sentenced by Judge Jeff Smith in the Thames District Court last month for eight offences under the Resource Management Act (RMA) spanning discharges that occurred over an 11 year period between 2003 and 2014.
The prosecution, brought by Waikato Regional Council, arose after a complaint was received in August 2014 about effluent management practices on Darrah’s Hikuai Settlement Road farm near Tairua.
A council inspection found the farm’s effluent ponds were overflowing to water. Hoses were also found that appeared to be set up for the purpose of pumping effluent into farm drains. The subsequent investigation confirmed that pumping had been deliberately and routinely occurring over the previous 11 years.
An abatement notice was served on Darrah to cease the unlawful discharges. Despite this he continued with the practice. On one occasion the pumping duration was found to be approximately nine hours resulting in over 300,000 litres of effluent being discharged into the farm drain.
The drain flows a short distance before entering the Boom Stream – this stream flows about 1.5 kilometres to the Tairua River.
“In some respects this is about as bad as it gets,” says council investigations manager Patrick Lynch.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.