Irrigator failings earn heavy fines
Irrigator
failings earn heavy fines
The
prosecution of a Southland dairy farm company and its manager will serve as a
strong warning to other farmers not to be lulled into a false sense of security
just because they have a low-rate effluent application system.
Glenkylie
Dairy Farm and its manager Craig Stevenson were fined $17,000 and $13,500 in
the Environment Court in February after admitting charges relating to when
K-Line effluent irrigation pods were placed on a slope when soils already had
high moisture levels. It allowed effluent to pond at the bottom of the slope
and end up in a watercourse through a tile drain.
A staff
member had laid the K-line system along the slope, but Judge Jane Borthwick
criticised the manager for not checking it.
An Ashburton
sharemilker, Richard Neil Spicer, has also been fined a total of $12,000 after
pleading guilty to two charges, discharging effluent from an irrigator onto
land causing ponding (which may have resulted in contaminants entering
groundwater) and contravening an abatement notice.
Abatement
notice
Environment
Canterbury (ECan) officers inspected the farm near Ashburton three times during
the 2008/09 season, finding severe ponding and runoff onto surrounding land.
Spicer was issued with an infringement notice and soon after an abatement
notice.
A second
visit found problems with the irrigator that could potentially lead to further
ponding and Spicer was warned to fix it or risk further enforcement action.
A third
visit again found ponding from the irrigator becoming stuck in a hole,
collapsing a bearing. Spicer was not on the property at the time, but he took
full responsibility for the incident.
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