Editorial: Big fine a rural warning

Council says the fine is in line with the crime.Hukerenui dairy farmer Stephen Purvis reckons he is "flabbergasted" by the $40,000 he's been fined for accidentally pouring effluent into a stream.

There will be other Northland farmers equally surprised, although many will also be observing it is time a line was drawn in the soil to reinforce the seriousness of water pollution.

Purvis and Share Farms EP - of which he's a shareholder - has six months to pay the fine.

In a drought, with milk and meat production low throughout the region, that's tough.

However, the Northland Regional Council says the fine is in line with the crime. Purvis had admitted discharging dairy effluent into a tributary of the Waipuakakaho Stream. The system the farm had in place to deal with effluent had failed - it blocked, and the effluent overflowed into a stream, turning it green.

Judge Greg Davis said that farmers that expanded their operations to make more money needed to ensure that effective effluent systems were in place, and were growing along with the more lucrative side of the business. His point is a good one - treat the environment with as much reverence as the dollar.

The fine is a loud, cracking warning shot across the bow of Northland's sloppy farmers who can ill-afford hefty fines at the moment - bankruptcy is a very real threat for farms less productive than Purvis's.