A Gore man has admitted discharging effluent to the Low Burn Stream near Mataura, resulting in the death of thousands of eels in February.
Environment Southland said in a statement yesterday that when the case had its second hearing in the Gore District Court on Wednesday, Bryson David Clark had entered intimated guilty pleas to discharging leachate from farm tailings, leachate from sileage, and dairy effluent on to land in circumstances where it could enter water.
Charges against a related company and another individual relating to the incident were withdrawn.
Clark has now been remanded for sentence by an Environment Court judge.
Counsel Tim McGuigan, of Wynn Williams, appeared for Environment Southland.
Environment Southland said as the matter remained before court it would make no further comment.
In February, it was estimated several thousand eels had died over about a 10km distance.
Environment Southland staff spent extensive time investigating potential causes of the deaths.
— APL
