A farm manager’s and farm owner’s failures to properly manage dairy effluent discharges at a Bay of Plenty farm have led to prosecution and a combined total of $58,100 in fines, $23,450 and $34,650 respectively.

Kaimai Dairy Farm Limited, the farm owner, and Glen John Ashford, the director of Kaimai Dairy Farm Limited and manager of the farm, both pleaded guilty to an offence of discharging dairy effluent onto land in circumstances where it may enter water. The charge relates to a farm located in the Kaimai ranges at the corner of Hanga Road and State Highway 29.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Compliance Manager, Alex Miller says everyone on a dairy farm involved in effluent has a responsibility.

“These cases show the importance of everyone monitoring what’s happening on the farm and being engaged with their role in dairy effluent disposal. That includes the resource consent holders, farm owners, directors, managers, and staff.

The maintenance of irrigators and active monitoring of effluent irrigation is critical to avoiding adverse environmental impacts.”

These prosecutions come at a time where freshwater management is in the national spotlight and regional implications are currently being assessed. New national rules and requirements now apply for certain land and water use activities. These mainly affect farmers, growers, people who take water from natural waterways, and anyone undertaking works in or near waterways or wetlands.

“Our water and land management practices maintain and improve the lifegiving ability of the region’s freshwater resources. Healthy waterways are the lifeblood of thriving people, businesses and environments,” Mr Miller says.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council is working together with Maori, landowners, and others to restore this region’s most degraded and vulnerable waterways. It encourages everyone to plan and get in touch to check what rules apply to them. For more information, please visit www.boprc.govt.nz/essential-freshwater

To view the sentencing decisions, please visit our website, ww.boprc.govt.nz/environmental-enforcement

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