Farmer pleads guilty to effluent discharge

GUILTY: South Wairarapa farmer Selwyn Donald has pleaded guilty to environment court charges of illegal discharge of effluent in breach of his resource consent permit. PHOTO/FILE

A prominent South Wairarapa dairy farmer has pleaded guilty to the illegal discharge of dairy shed effluent into waterways.

Selwyn Bruce Donald appeared before Judge Chris Tuohy in the Masterton District Court recently, pleading guilty to a charge under the environment act, of illegal discharge of effluent - in breach of his resource consent permit.

Charges against his farm manager, Daniel Hart, were withdrawn.

The court heard Donald, the former president of the Wairarapa Racing Club, was the manager of a trust farm in the South Wairarapa where effluent discharge from the milking shed, being pumped onto paddocks, was found running into the Tauherenikau Drain, which runs 2km upstream of Lake Wairarapa.

The farm milks 320 cows with the farm the holder of resource consent which permits the farm to irrigate effluent onto paddocks.

The court heard, on February 1 Donald went on holiday leaving a relief milker in charge of the property whom he had told the irrigator was set up and didn't need any attention.

However, a few days later the relief milker noticed an arm on the irrigator was broken and was discharging effluent onto paddocks which was ponding and flowing into nearby waterways.

Between February 7 and 11, eight milkings were undertaken where an un-permitted amount of effluent was being pumped onto paddocks with raw effluent travelling through bushes into the waterway, the court heard.

On his return, Donald arranged for the irrigator to be repaired.

Donald's defence lawyer Louise Elder told the court she would be applying for a 106 discharge, which would allow her client to avoid a conviction.

Judge Tuohy said an environment warranted judge needed to carry out sentencing and remanded Donald at large to reappear on October 17 for sentencing.