A stink over this pig farm
A Taranaki pig farmer under investigation for allegedly polluting a major waterway is adamant his rural property is operating within regional council regulations.
Robert Dawson, of Alfred Rd, near Egmont Village, about 10 kilometres from New Plymouth, was served three abatement notices by Taranaki Regional Council in August following inspections for offensive odour and waste discharges from his pig farm.
Dawson was fined $750 each for two separate offences of contaminating water, in August and October.
Further inspections in November showed progress made by Dawson to prevent any recurrence of the offending.
Dawson, who was convicted of animal cruelty in 2016, said the runoff from the property was not leaching nitrates, or pig waste effluent, into the Waiwhakaiho River.
‘‘It’s creating a bit of stress for me trying to explain there is no runoff into the river.’’
The property boundaries on the Waiwhakaiho River, a major Taranaki waterway, and a source for New Plymouth’s freshwater.
It is close to the Egmont National Park boundary and has recorded up to 4 metres of rainfall annually.
Neighbours who contacted Stuff said the property was an ‘‘eyesore’’ and a ‘‘mess’’, and the smell ‘‘overwhelming’’ on a hot summer’s day.
Stacks of wooden pellets, plastic crates, water ‘pods’ and cardboard boxes of scrap food litter are piled up high at the front of the property.
Dawson farms 12 pigs – sows and boars – as a hobby at the rear of the property, which is fenced off from the river bank.
He regularly collects unwanted bread and vegetables from supermarkets in New Plymouth to feed the pigs. The pellets are used to build pig pens and shelter for the animals to lie on.
Some of the food waste was left in the yard for days until it was fed out, he said.
Any pellets not used on the property are burned, along with disposable material.
Two culverts help filter the runoff from the pig yard before the effluent material is drained through a pipe into a soak hole.
Dawson said he had taken water samples at 10 sites around the property, and forwarded three samples to be laboratory tested.
Some of the water samples, including two from opposite the yard were clear, while others were murky.
‘‘I’m happy to drink from the river sample that I collected from opposite the pig yard. ‘‘It is perfectly clean water,’’ he said. Dawson said he would meet with any of his three neighbours to hear out their complaints but they had never approached him.
‘‘Normally you wouldn’t see this much green waste in the yard, and I’m certainly prepared to tidy the front up,’’ he said.
‘‘The smell is not objectionable, I think anyone who says there is, is kidding themselves.
‘‘I’m not the culprit here and I think the council is clutching at straws, there is no runoff into the river from here.
‘‘There’s more effluent coming off neighbouring farms than from my property.
‘‘I enjoy pig farming and I enjoy living here, I’m not planning on moving.’’
Farmer Murray Sandford, who leased out a neighbouring farm, said the property should not be used as a dumping ground for waste material.
‘‘It’s breaking regional council guidelines for good farm management, which say on-farm rubbish must not impact on water, or air quality,’’ he said.
Under the guidelines any disposal pits on the farm must be more than 25m from a stream, or 50m from a water supply.
Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said farmers were liable to be prosecuted if there was effluent runoff from farms into rivers.
‘‘If it was my cows I’d be fined,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve got nothing personal against him [Dawson] but it’s an eyesore and I’d like to know when it is going to stop.’’
Taranaki Regional Council resource management director Fred McLay said compliance issues on the property were still being followed up by staff.