$60,000 fine over spill

A mining company has been fined more than $60,000 for discharging thousands of litres of diesel into a stream. Locals complained in August last year about contamination of a stream at Taharoa Ironsands’ mine site near Kawhia, on Waikato s west coast. One local says they tracked the rainbow-coloured diesel fuel in the Wainui Stream approximately 400 metres out to the Tasman Sea. Te Kuiti District Court Judge Melanie Harland says the company was careless, and failed to follow isolation procedures.