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Monday, 18 January 2021, 12:28 pm Seven separate court cases against Waikato farmers and businesses have found that they each unlawfully discharged farm effluent into the environment. The cases have been sentenced over the last three months, with the final case being made public today, resulting in convictions and a total of $318,025 in fines. The prosecutions were taken by Waikato Regional Council under the Resource Management Act. “Farming is obviously a huge and vital industry that contributes to this region’s economy and communities in many ways,” said council regional compliance ma...

A Waikato Regional Council officer inspects the extent of effluent pollution at a farm. Judge Melinda Dickey convicted the company in Tokoroa District Court on January 18 and fined it $46,900. The council was alerted to the incident by a member of the public. The highest fine was given to Taupō dairy farmer John Richard Lockwood, who was fined $80,500 for over applying effluent three times – in September and October 2019, and August 2020. He was convicted by Judge David Kirkpatrick in the Taupō District Court on December 1, 2020. In another case, a contract milker allowed effluent...