Bryson David Clark, 62, was sentenced in the Gore District Court yesterday for discharging scrapings, silage leachate and effluent from his dairy farm into the Low Burn Stream, which runs into the Mataura River, resulting in mass death of eels last February.
The court heard Clark jointly owns a dairy farm in Mataura with his wife Nicola, and largely due to the overflow of the farm’s effluent pond from February 9, 2024, there was a mass loss of aquatic life.
According to the Southland Regional Council’s summary, 2612 dead fish were recovered, most of them eels, but the council estimated the actual number killed was 4000.
Among the dead marine animals recovered were the New Zealand longfin eel which were endemic to New Zealand and had an “at risk" conservation status, the summary said.
In explanation, Clark told council officers at the time he and his wife had been away when the overflow occurred, the pump that maintained the pond failed and the alarm monitoring the overflow had been switched off a month or two earlier, the court heard.
In court, defence counsel Jamie Robinson said the alarm had been malfunctioning and going off when there was no overflow and therefore her client had disabled it.
Southland Regional Council prosecutor Tim McGuigan said the man’s decision to disable the alarm was an “accident waiting to happen" as, if the pump failed and the alarm was off, discharge was “inevitable".
"That is reckless conduct, not careless conduct," he said.
Te Ao Marama Inc (Tami) representative Stevie-Rae Blair read a statement on behalf of Ngāi tahu ki Murihiku, who are the mana whenua of the area.
She spoke of the “emotional, spiritual and cultural distress" Clark’s offending had caused.
She said the korero from the Tami staff who attended the scene included how “heartbreaking" it was to see so many dead tuna (eels) in such a small section of the creek.
“And [it was] one of the worst things I've ever seen or smelt or felt in my life," she said.
She also highlighted that the tuna were the “most resilient creatures" within the awa (stream) and could “sustain pollution better than most other species".
She said “it makes us wonder" what other species were impacted before the eels died.
The wellbeing of the environment was interconnected with the wellbeing of mana whenua and whānau, and the Mataura River was a central point, historically, for the hapu to gather food, she said.
“When the environment is unwell and disrespected, so are our people," she said.
Judge John Hassan appeared via audiovisual link and warned defence counsel there would be an enforcement order imposed by the court in sentencing the defendant.
An enforcement order is a legally binding direction issued by the Environment Court requiring a farmer to take specific actions to remedy environmental harm.
In this case, it was to be modifications to the man’s farm such as new fencing and native planting, the judge said.
Ms Robinson said the cost of the fine the judge would impose should be tempered by the cost her client would face to comply with the enforcement order.
The native planting that was to be ordered was projected to cost about $122,000.
During sentencing, the judge said that although the pooled silage leachate and runoff from farm tailings contained contaminants, there was no evidence to prove those contaminants had flowed into the stream.
The judge disagreed with the prosecution, saying switching off the alarm was “highly careless" behaviour, short of being “reckless".
“But in doing so, you left the gate open for what transpired," he said.
Judge Hassan also echoed Ms Blair’s words about the eel being the river’s hardiest of fish.
Their significant mortality was "indicative that there would have been greater mortality in other aquatic species that were recovered".
The judge reduced the fine for the cost of the enforcement order, early guilty pleas, a clean record and for co-operating completely with the council.
For the three charges of discharging contaminants on to land, with potential to contaminate the stream, the judge gave the enforcement order.
For the leading charge of discharging the contaminant effluent into the stream the judge imposed a fine of $130,000.
