A Pongakawa dairy farm manager has been convicted and fined $52,500 for illegally discharging effluent from a farm storage pond which ended up flowing into the Waihī Estuary.

Wayne Rutland pleaded guilty in the Environment Court at Tauranga to a charge of unlawfully discharging dairy effluent onto or into land at a farm property in Old Coach Rd which entered the Wharere Canal. The canal flows into the Waihī Estuary, which is between Maketū and Pukehina,

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council prosecution relates to Rutland allowing effluent to be illegally discharged from a storage pond on a farm property in Old Coach Rd, Pongakawa, owned by Scott Farms (Pongakawa) Ltd on December 22, 2022.

The maximum penalty for this offence is two years in prison or a fine of $300,000.

Wharere Canal is a habitat for whitebait, eels and other species and a food source for local iwi and fishers.

The council’s summary of facts described Waihī Estuary as a “natural taonga” and said because of the declining water quality during recent decades, there were fewer shellfish, crabs and worms in the estuary and extra efforts were being taken to improve its ecological health.

Judge Sheena Tepania’s recent sentencing decision, which included the council’s summary of facts, was released to the Bay of Plenty Times.

The summary said at the time of illegal discharge, Rutland had worked as the farm manager at Scott Farms for more than 16 years and was responsible for the farm’s day-to-day operations, including the irrigation system.

In March 2020, the farm owner was granted resource consent by the council allowing the discharge of dairy effluent and dairy sludge to land at the farm, subject to conditions including no effluent “reaching surface waters by an overflow or direct discharge” and keeping effluent irrigation records.

The prosecution stems from a council officer’s routine compliance inspection on November 22, 2022, and a follow-up visit by two officers on December 22, 2022.

During the first visit, the officer saw discoloured liquid discharging from the side of the effluent pond and an outlet pipe with a tap on it, and effluent appeared to be flowing from a 100mm wide hole in the pond wall, the summary said.

Rutland told the officer the historic outlet pipe must have been knocked, causing the discharge, and that the tap was previously used when effluent in the pond was “gravity fed” to an irrigation sprinkler as part of the old effluent system.

The officer told Rutland and a farm director the discharge must stop immediately and the hole in the pond wall and the outlet pipe and tap must be blocked.

Dairy effluent discharging through an outlet pipe in an effluent pond at a dairy farm on Old Farm Rd, Pongakawa, in December 2022. Photo / Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

On December 22, 2022, when two council officers visited the farm to inspect the repairs, they saw effluent flowing from the same outlet pipe and no irrigation equipment nearby.

According to the council summary, as the officers made this discovery Rutland arrived on a quad bike, ran over and turned the outlet pipe tap off.

In explanation, Rutland told the officers he had been using the old gravity-fed irrigation sprinkler system, and earlier that day a bulldozer had driven over the effluent drag hose connected to the pond pipe and that caused the hose and tap to come apart.

He said the tap had been left open while connected to the effluent drag hose and sprinkler.

Council officers followed the effluent flow path to a drain that contained flowing water that then flowed through a culvert into an adjoining paddock.

Dairy effluent from a Pongakawa dairy farm flowing through a culvert that conveys water from the farm into the Wharere Canal and ultimately into the Waihī Estuary, Photo / Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

The “affected drain” then flowed through a culvert under Old Coach Rd and on to the neighbouring property - about 4km beyond the Old Coach Rd culvert, the drain flows into the Wharere Canal, and ultimately into Waihī Estuary, the summary said.

Laboratory testing of effluent samples downstream from the discharge point found elevated levels of faecal material and ammonia concentrations.

The council’s lawyer, Hayley Sheridan, told Judge Tepania the appropriate starting point for the fine was $80,000, given the “relatively large volume” of effluent discharged over two days, with moderately serious environmental effects.

She said this was not a system failure but Rutland either deliberately allowed the discharge from the unsupervised outlet tap or was “reckless” to the possibility.

Rutland’s lawyer Lana Burkhardt argued for a fine starting point of $40,000 given there was no evidence her client deliberately left the outlet pipe tap on and described his conduct as “highly careless or even negligent” but not intentional.

Burkhardt said Rutland accepted he was fully responsible for the discharge and urged Judge Tepania to accept this was a “one-off incident”.

She said the entire prosecution process was “traumatic” for Rutland and he was unlikely to work in the industry again.

Judge Tepania fined a Pongakawa dairy farm manager $52,500 for illegally discharging effluent from a farm storage pond which ended up flowing into the Waihī Estuary.

Judge Tepania said after considering other relevant prosecution cases and the circumstances of this prosecution, including Rutland being an experienced farm manager who had not taken the “required level of care” and the adverse effects on the environment, a $52,500 fine was appropriate.

“I find that Mr Rutland’s decision to unseal the outlet pipe and open the tap to operate the effluent system other than directed by his employer, without checking whether the (farm) tractors were working on December 21 was highly careless.”

She said Rutland’s failure to supervise the effluent discharge, and to either hook up the irrigation equipment or at least ensure it remained hooked up, was “negligent” and he was “reckless” for failing to check the tap was off while the pipe remained unsealed.

Rutland was ordered to pay court costs of $130 and solicitor costs of $113.

-Bay of Plenty Times.