Council officer sampling from an effluent storage pond. Photo: Supplied
A Waikato share milker has been convicted, fined $40,000 and sentenced to 140 hours community work after allowing farm effluent to enter a nearby branch of the Puniu River, near Te Awamutu.
Daniel Lund manages a family farm at Pokuru near Te Awamutu.
In July and August 2022, council compliance officers conducted three inspections of the farm effluent system. During two inspections they found effluent storage ponds overflowing into a tributary of the Puniu River.
On another occasion they found effluent ponding and runoff from an irrigator.
A previous abatement notice that had been served on Lund was also being breached.
Lund appeared last week before Judge Melinda Dickey in the Hamilton District Court facing five charges under the Resource Management Act because of a prosecution taken by Waikato Regional Council.
In summing up her decision, Judge Dickey said she found Lund to be highly careless.
"There appears to have been insufficient attention paid to the infrastructure and management of effluent disposal."
Judge Dickey found the operation of the system left much to be desired.
Waikato Regional compliance manager Patrick Lynch said the farm effluent ponds were inadequate and posed a real risk to the environment.
"Mr Lund displayed a lack of understanding of managing effluent effectively and safely on the property," Lynch said.
"Moving into the wetter and busier time of the year for farmers, this prosecution is a timely reminder to all farmers that there needs to be adequate effluent infrastructure and good effluent management systems on every farm."
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