Press Release – Fish and Game New Zealand Polluters must help foot the bill to clean up Lake Hayes. A proposal by Otago Regional Council to make residents who live immediately around the polluted lake pay most of the restoration cost is unfair, Otago Fish & Game environment officer … Polluters must help foot the bill to clean up Lake Hayes. A proposal by Otago Regional Council to make residents who live immediately around the polluted lake pay most of the restoration cost is unfair, Otago Fish & Game environment officer Nigel Paragreen says. “By failing to target those responsible for the degradation of Lake Hayes, the ORC is sending a message that polluters won’t be held accountable,” Mr Paragreen says.