EPA fines farmer for effluent discharges

A Drouin man has been fined $1866 for failing to make changes to his farm to prevent any further dairy effluent discharges.

Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) officers attended the Drouin site in September last year following a pollution report that dairy effluent was discharging into a waterway.

The officers found dairy sewage thickly covering the yards and surrounding tracks, and that it was discharging straight from the man’s yard towards King Parrot Creek.

The officers also found the man had a poorly maintained effluent pond, and system that deliberately bypassed the overflowing effluent pond and discharged effluent towards King Parrot Creek.

The farmer was issued with a Pollution Abatement Notice (PAN) requiring him to modify the effluent capture and treatment system so that all dairy effluent generated on the premises is prevented from polluting land, groundwater and surface waters.

These works were supposed to be completed by the end of February.

EPA Gippsland manager Stephen Lansdell said when officers returned to the site on March 9 to follow up on compliance, they found sewage waste was still flowing from the man’s dairy yards and that it had been occurring for some time.

“It’s very disappointing the farmer had not complied with the notice despite having five months to make the necessary changes. He has since fixed it within three weeks of our followup inspection.

“It is clear he gave no thought to the environment or his neighbours despite the obvious issues around dairy effluent management.”

Mr Lansdell said the man had since complied with the requirement and the notice had been revoked.

“The protection of our creeks and waterways is critical for the environment, our local dairy industry, and people’s livelihoods. We thank the community for reporting pollution to EPA and encourage others to report pollution to our EPA hotline on 1300 372 842 (1800 EPA VIC).”

The $1866 fine was a penalty infringement notice issued by the EPA.