Hefty fine for breach

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.