Big fine for effluent discharge

A Hawkes Bay dairy company and a dairy contracting company have been fined a total of $35,000 over what has been described as the region's most serious illegal effluent discharge.

In the Environment Court, BHE Farms Ltd was fined $20,000 plus court costs and its contractor Holstein Friesian Milking Co Ltd was fined $15,000 plus court costs for discharging effluent to land that entered water last year.

The fines were the largest imposed in Hawkes Bay for the offence.