Fine for cow poo leak to river

A transport company owner ‘‘buried his head in the sand’’ instead of fixing a problem that led to 6.9 million litres of cow effluent flowing into a protected section of the Rangitı¯kei River.

Ray Coles Transport was fined $101,250 in the Palmerston North District Court on Monday for discharging contaminates into the river.

The company, named after its owner, has a 10-truck fleet. Five of them are for transporting cattle.

Its base at Mangaweka has an effluent pond backing on to a cliff leading to the river.

Ray Coles Transport used to be able to discharge its waste to the river, but from 2001 it had consents to discharge to neighbouring properties.

It contracted a company to take the effluent from October 2014 to April 2018, but nothing was taken from then until June last year.

Despite trucks still offloading cattle waste and the stockyards being washed down, the pond did not overflow.

Instead, the waste was leaking out of the effluent pond into a drain and down a cliff into the Rangitı¯kei River.

That section of the river has a conservation order, meaning it needs to be persevered due to the significant natural characteristics and recreational values of the area.

The leak was spotted by a

Horizons Regional Council staff member kayaking along the river in January last year, but the council was unable to inspect it properly due to the danger of the cliff.

Horizons staff were called back in June last year when a person taking a school group down the river the previous month saw the leak, that time taking a drone and safety equipment to make an inspection.

They used meters to figure out 6.9 million litres of effluent had flowed into the river.

Judge Brian Dwyer said Coles was suffering from health problems at the time, but he should have been on alert after Horizons’ first visit.

‘‘Alarm bells should have been ringing.

‘‘[The company’s] failure to investigate... constituted at best wilful blindness amounting to recklessness.’’

The company had been issued abatement and infringement notices – actions short of prosecution in court – in the past, so was aware of its obligations, the judge said.

Furthermore, video and photos showed a clear path of effluent down the cliff.

Iwi were deeply offended by the discharge into an awa of significance, the judge said.

All but 10 per cent of the fine will be paid to Horizons, which undertook the prosecution.

‘‘[The company’s] failure to investigate... constituted at best wilful blindness amounting to recklessness.’’ Judge Brian Dwyer