Truck company, farmer fined $109k

Two people from the Waikato have been convicted and fined a total of $109,000 over separate pollution events resulting from poor management of effluent infrastructure.

Paddy Smith Limited, a Matamata truck wash business, was fined $60,000 by Judge Jeff Smith in the Tauranga District Court for the unlawful discharge of animal effluent from the washdown of stock trucks at its rural site.

The Waikato Regional Council responded to a complaint from a member of the public in May 2020. Council staff found that an irrigator had been in operation next to a gully for about six hours, resulting in substantial ponding of contaminant creating flow paths to the Tututahunga Stream. The discharge comprised washdown from stock trucks.

Meanwhile, Hauraki farmer William Gary Brunt was fined $49,000 by Judge Brian Dwyer in the Hamilton District Court for unlawfully discharging animal effluent into the environment at his Netherton farm.

An effluent holding pond was found to be overflowing into a nearby paddock by regional council staff during a routine inspection in August 2019. The council had alerted Brunt to the risks the system posed to the environment during previous inspections, a council statement said.

Council’s compliance manager Patrick Lynch said in both cases there was adequate infrastructure to manage effluent; however, they had been poorly managed resulting in two avoidable incidents.

‘‘This is an opportunity to remind anyone that manages contaminants as part of their business to be vigilant, not only to protect the environment, but also to protect themselves from the consequences of environmental breaches,’’ Lynch said.