Waikato farmer fined for effluent discharge admits fault
A Waikato farmer who let effluent discharge into a stream intermittently for three and a half years admits he feels bad about his actions.
Morrinsville farmer Terry Hazlehurst was convicted and fined in the Hamilton District Court on February 4, after pleading guilty to unlawful discharge of effluent.
He was fined $57,375 after being found actively discharging effluent from a pipe in a storage pond on his farm into a waterway leading into Tauhei Stream.
‘‘It’s my own fault and that’s why I pleaded guilty,’’ Hazlehurst told Stuff.
‘‘I didn’t cap the pipe when I should have. I do feel bad about it.’’
At sentencing, Judge Melinda Dickey expressed ‘‘serious concern’’ over the 43-month timeframe in which the discharge occurred.
Judge Dickey described the offending as ‘‘deliberate’’, demonstrating a ‘‘disregard for the effects of the effluent discharge on the environment’’.
Hazlehurst was also issued with an enforcement order to make immediate improvements to the effluent ponds. Hazlehurst said he did care about pollution, but did not have an explanation as to why he let the discharge occur for so long.
‘‘I don’t know why I didn’t [cap the pipe] I just didn’t do it,’’ Hazlehurst said. But he also felt ‘‘ripped off’’, saying others were worse polluters than he.
‘‘What I did was nothing compared to what other people are doing, I got fined more than Hamilton City Council who discharged raw sewerage into the Waikato River.’’
Hazlehurst said he had implemented required changes such as erecting a stopbank to prevent rainwater run-off into the paddock. He said he would stop dairy farming after another season and would then run dry stock instead.
‘‘A lot of people are getting out because of all of these regulations.’’
Waikato Regional Council investigations manager Patrick Lynch said the case caused particular concern.
‘‘This kind of behaviour needs to change. Obviously it has a detrimental effect on the environment, but it also undermines all the good work being done by the farming industry and wider community to improve water quality.’’