Dairy farmers found out over effluent release

At least 20 Bay of Plenty dairy farmers have been found discharging effluent into waterways or on to land in breach of their resource consents.
Environment Bay of Plenty's pollution officers began annual inspections on 350 of the 700 dairy sheds in the BOP in mid-October and have found some farmers becoming complacent about effluent disposal.
The regional council's pollution prevention team leader, Steve Pickles, said things had got worse since last year, with at least two farmers facing prosecution.
"Without a doubt there will be some who will be recommended through to our council for prosecution," he said.
"There are some really serious ones out there this year. Last year, we had a season without them [prosecutions]."
Mr Pickles said inspectors were struggling to determine the reason behind farmers' non-compliance, especially considering they were warned of the inspections.
The inspection programme involves staff assessing effluent management and disposal systems within the requirements of their resource consents, mostly looking at how farmers are managing effluent ponds and irrigation systems. Officers also inspect other possible sources of contaminants, such as run-off from feedpads, stand-off pads and silage pits. Mr Pickles said the non-compliance ranged from poor staff training to lack of maintenance or failure to empty effluent ponds.
The wet winter and calving season were ruled out as contributing factors due to the inspections beginning in October.
Mr Pickles said court fines dished out this year in other parts of the country had been as high as $60,000, with the courts taking a harder line on serious offenders.
The council carries out inspections on dairy farms anywhere from once a year to once every three years, depending on the farmer's compliance record.
Once a farm is deemed to be in breach of its consent, the farmer is given written instructions on changes required to ensure compliance.
In serious cases, this is often followed by a formal abatement notice, which outlines the work to be completed within a set time-frame.
In cases were effluent poses a serious risk of polluting a waterway, or has already done so, the farmer may be issued an infringement notice with a $750 fine. These farmers may also be subject to prosecution.
Mr Pickles said the farm visits would be completed by the end of the week. Inspectors would consider what action was to be taken against non-complying farmers next week. Fonterra's sustainability leadership team chairman, Barry Harris, said any other level of non-compliance was unacceptable to the company.
"It's also unacceptable to the majority of suppliers, who ensure their effluent systems meet the required regional regulations," he said.
Fonterra is writing to all farmers in the region offering assistance and advice from a local sustainability dairying specialist.
DairyNZ also offers the Farm Enviro-Walk, a self-assessment tool which helps farmers improve nutrient and effluent management.
The poor compliance levels follow the signing of the Clean Streams Accord between Fonterra, regional councils and the Government in June, which expects 100 per cent of farm dairy effluent discharges to comply with resource consents and regional plans.