Big fines for stockyard

18–19 The owners of the largest stockyard in the Southern Hemisphere have copped big fines for allowing animal effluent to flow into a Manawatu¯ stream.

An iwi spokesman says the discharge was an ‘‘obnoxious’’ act against the stream’s mauri and mana, while an experienced judge described the act as ‘‘systematic recklessness’’.

PGG Wrightson and Carrfields Livestock were both sentenced in the Environment Court in Levin yesterday for discharging effluent into waterways, in relation to an incident at the Feilding Sale Yards in February 2018.

Carrfields was fined $71,250, 20–21 but PGG Wrightson was fined $75,000 because it has a previous conviction under the Resource Management Act. They must also pay legal and court costs.

The two companies own the yards, which cover 70,000 square metres and are an icon in Feilding. Thousands of cattle and sheep are sold each week, with the animals kept in pens.

All the animal effluent generated throughout the day is hosed through a series of drains, which all connect to a sump.

The sump has a pipe that connects to the Manawatu¯ District Council waste stream, taking that hosed effluent to a treatment plant. There is also a pipe in the sump for rainwater, which connects to the council’s stormwater system and leads to the Mangakino Stream, also known 22–23 24–25 as the Makino Stream.

That stream feeds into the O¯ roua River, which has had a ra¯ hui in place since the 1960s due to waste being discharged into it.

That ra¯hui, placed by Nga¯ti Kauwhata, is still in place.

The waste pipe blocked sometime during hosing on February 16, sending effluent into the Mangakino Stream.

The hosing started at 1.15pm, the problem was discovered at 6.13pm when a member of the public saw the effluent going into the stream, and it was resolved once the pipe was unblocked at 26 27 8.45pm. The amount of effluent that went into the water is not known, but it flowed for at least 21⁄2 hours.

Nga¯ti Kauwhata spokesman Dennis Emery said council staff contained much of the effluent, but he saw urine flowing down both sides of the river.

‘‘We are unable to make contact with the river itself. We cannot catch tuna [eel], cannot spiritualise with the waterway, cannot recreate,’’ he said. ‘‘That has a deep and culturally significant impact.’’ A large portion of the river was called ‘‘the river with no fish’’ due to the damage discharges had caused, he said.

Judge Brian Dwyer said of the situation: ‘‘It was a recipe for disaster. This was foreseeable, if not inevitable... and systematic recklessness.’’

‘‘It was a recipe for disaster.’’ Judge Brian Dwyer