Ongoing dairy effluent spills have degraded Otago rivers and will have a severe long-term impact on catchments, Environment Court judge Jeff Smith says.
"Waterways in Otago and throughout New Zealand are increasingly precious and under threat by small and incremental discharges of effluent," Judge Smith said in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, while sentencing four dairy farming companies for effluent spills in South Otago, one of which entered the Pomahaka River.
Blue Mountain Livestock Ltd was fined $30,000 after a K-line irrigator malfunction on a Pomahaka Downs Rd dairy farm, near Clinton, led to effluent running into the Pomahaka River on February 8.
During a routine visit by an Otago Regional Council enforcement officer it was discovered the irrigation system was not working after a T-junction had been disconnected.
The effluent saturated the paddock and effluent flowed into a duck pond before travelling 350m to the Pomahaka River.
Photographs showed a visible green plume 5m to 6m downstream.
"It was of sufficient quantity to reach the river and in my view contaminate [the river]," Judge Smith said.
It would "no doubt have a severe long-term impact" on the river system, he said.
In this case, the company failed to ensure the irrigator was properly connected, free of obstructions and operating correctly and, as it was a new paddock with unknown absorption levels, it should have been monitored.
In another case, Riverlands Ko-Torp Ltd and its director and farm manager Nigel Clifford McLachlan were fined $20,625 and $7000 respectively after an irrigation hose split, sending effluent shooting into the air on a Clydevale dairy farm on February 21, 2012.
It was detected by an Otago Regional Council enforcement officer on a routine visit, who estimated the effluent was rising about 20m in the air.
The effluent had ponded in three places and there was an effluent trail down through long grass to an unnamed stream, where there was an effluent plume extending for 800m.
High levels of E.coli bacteria were measured in the water of the stream, but it dissipated before it got to the Pomahaka River.
It was a single event of short duration, which happened just before the visit of the officer, Judge Smith believed.
McLachlan was fined $7000 and ordered to pay $132.89 court costs and $113 in solicitor's fees, while Riverlands Ko-Torp Ltd was fined $20,625 and ordered to pay analyst's fees of $562.35, $113 in solicitor's fees, $132.89 court costs and $342.20 in disbursements.
Sharemilker Pieter Dirk Ackermann was fined $5000 yesterday by Judge Smith for breaching a rule in the regional plan by allowing effluent to pond on a 603-cow dairy farm at Paisley Rd, near Balclutha.
On two occasions in March 2012 a regional council enforcement officer found effluent ponding where a travelling irrigator had been used, but there was no evidence the effluent had travelled or entered water.
The offending was at the lowest end of the scale but showed a lack of diligence in the monitoring and use of a travelling irrigator, Judge Smith said.
Ackermann had been warned and issued with infringement notices on previous occasions, and Judge Smith warned him that any further breaches would be treated very seriously.
Ackermann was ordered to pay $17.60 photocopying costs, $113 in solicitor's fees and $132.89 court costs.
Another sharemilker, David Newport, of McFarlane Rd, Balclutha, was fined $3000 for an effluent spill from a travelling irrigator, which ran down into a gully where it ponded in two places.
The spill was caused by a malfunctioning irrigator, which was not detected quickly enough, Judge Smith said.
Newport was jointly charged with farm worker Daniel Mervyn Gamble, who will be sentenced in the Whangarei District Court next month.
Newport was also ordered to pay $222.06 in disbursements, $19 photocopying costs, $113 in solicitor's fees and $132.89 court costs.
Judge Smith ordered 90% of the each of the fines be paid to the Otago Regional Council.
