Bay of Plenty dairy company fined $48K for effluent discharge

Ponded dairy effluent from a travelling irrigator flowing into a drain at Nomar Farms Ltd's farm in Whakatane in November 2023. Photo / BOP Regional Council

Unlawful effluent discharge described as “highly careless” offending by a regional council lawyer has cost a Whakatāne dairy farm $48,000.

Nomar Farms Limited pleaded guilty to the unlawful discharge at an 81ha property on Powdrell Road, Whakatāne, which is jointly owned and operated by Barry McLeod and Donna Sergent.

Environment Court Judge Sheena Tepania’s sentencing decision said the farm discharge was discovered on November 23, 2023, by a council compliance officer during a routine inspection.

During the inspection, the council officer saw a travelling irrigator in a paddock, which was connected to a hydrant on the fence line.

One of the irrigator’s nozzles was “enlarged”, and there was significant effluent ponding in the paddock and along the fence line, and a substantial volume of liquid in a farm drain.

Effluent ponding from a travelling irrigator at Nomar Farms Ltd's dairy farm in Powdrell Rd, Whakatane, in November 2023. Photo / BOP Regional Council

That drain joins the Kopeopeo Canal at the farm’s northern boundary and flows into the Orini Canal 7km downstream, which flows into the Whakatāne River about 1.5km from its river mouth.

Sergent told the officer that McLeod, who manages the farm’s effluent discharge, was in Australia, but had fixed an issue with the hydrant two days earlier.

A council officer spoke to McLeod and Sergent three weeks after the discharge. Sergent said she did not change anything with the effluent pumps after McLeod set them up.

McLeod said he found no issues with the irrigator, hydrant, or elbow when he checked them on his return from Australia.

The discharge breached an abatement notice issued on October 25, 2017 after effluent was discovered flowing overland from a travelling irrigator to a swale drain.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s lawyer, Hayley Sheridan, said this was “highly careless” offending which warranted a $70,000 to $80,000 fine starting point.

She said one of the irrigator’s nozzles was “too large”, there had been a lack of monitoring of the irrigator, and the effluent system had no fail-safe devices.

There were high levels of faecal coliforms and E.coli in the drain, and discharges of this nature contributed cumulatively to degradation of groundwater, surface water, and the Whakatāne River estuary.

“Increased bacteria entering waterways results in an increased risk of exposure to pathogens for the whole downstream catchment.”

Nomar Farms’ lawyer Isabelle Kwek said the volume of the discharge was “not known” and a fine starting point of $40,000 was appropriate.

The discharge was “unlikely to have had any measurable ecological impact on the surrounding environment”, which was not sensitive and “already of low drain water quality”.

Kwek characterised her client’s offending as “an unfortunate failure to carry out the required short-interval monitoring” rather than an extended failure to monitor the irrigator.

Environment Court Judge Sheena Moana Tepania convicted and fined Nomar Farms Ltd for unlawful dairy effluent discharge in November 2023.

Judge Tepania said this was “highly careless” offending by Nomar Farms, given its compliance history and a “lack of robust” processes for maintaining and supervising the irrigator in McLeod’s absence.

Tepania found there were “adverse environmental effects” from significant ponding and over-irrigation that “must have spanned some days”, and the cumulative degradation of the Kopeopeo Canal and Whakatāne River.

She fined Nomar Farms $48,750, plus court costs and solicitor fees of $113, and ordered 90% of the fine to be paid to the regional council.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.