Crafar farm fined over effluent

A Crafar family farm at Scotts Ferry, 20km east of Palmerston North, has been fined $40,000 for wrongly discharging effluent.

A judge fined the Crafar family company in Palmerston North District Court today after convicting it of discharging effluent.

Dairy waste had flooded thousands of square metres of land, TVNZ reported.

Greg Carlyon of the Manawatu-Wanganui regional council said the judge had given a clear message.

"I think the judge made it pretty clear when he said this is the end of a long and sorry saga and of a dynasty that's been acting in this way for some considerable period of time."

The Crafars had 22 farms placed into receivership in October last year, and Chinese investors are trying to buy a total of 29 farms formerly linked to the family.

The Crafars, who pleaded guilty to the charge last year, did not appear in court - they said the collapsed dairy empire was now controlled by the receivers, KordaMentha.

The Manawatu property was the family's most recent purchase, and it paid $20 million for the farm at the height of the dairy boom.

Based at Reporoa in the Bay of Plenty, the Crafars built a dairying empire of 20,000 milking cows, 10,000 other stock, 200 staff and around $200 million of debt with Westpac, Rabobank and PGG Wrightson Finance.

Family head Allan Crafar today defended his dairying practices. He said the farm had been practically underwater and when the Crafars found out what was occurring they spent over $5000 a day, to remove the effluent.

But the regional council said the pollution seriously threatened land and waterways.

"It was completely callous, and in our view calculated, and that's why we ended up in court," said Mr Carlyon.

Crafar operations have been prosecuted half a dozen times for animal welfare and resource consent breaches.

Shortly after four of the family's companies were placed in receivership, Waikato's regional council prosecuted for illegal effluent discharges at Kuratau, near Turangi, and that company Hillside Ltd, was fined $65,000.

Previously, the nation's biggest fine for a single dairy effluent discharge, $37,500, was imposed in the Environment Court at Napier over the Crafar Group's breach of resource consent on Taharua Farm, 40km southeast of Taupo.

And another Crafar company, Te Pohue Ltd, was fined $10,550 in 2006 after pleading guilty to 49 charges of animal neglect when emaciated and dead cows were found on a Crafar farm at Te Pohue, 45km northwest of Napier.

- NZPA