Latest news with #effluent
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Waikato share milker convicted, fined $40,000 for allowing farm effluent into Puniu river
Council officer sampling from an effluent storage pond. Photo: Supplied A Waikato share milker has been convicted, fined $40,000 and sentenced to 140 hours community work after allowing farm effluent to enter a nearby branch of the Puniu River, near Te Awamutu. Daniel Lund manages a family farm at Pokuru near Te Awamutu. In July and August 2022, council compliance officers conducted three inspections of the farm effluent system. During two inspections they found effluent storage ponds overflowing into a tributary of the Puniu River. On another occasion they found effluent ponding and runoff from an irrigator. A previous abatement notice that had been served on Lund was also being breached. Lund appeared last week before Judge Melinda Dickey in the Hamilton District Court facing five charges under the Resource Management Act because of a prosecution taken by Waikato Regional Council. In summing up her decision, Judge Dickey said she found Lund to be highly careless. "There appears to have been insufficient attention paid to the infrastructure and management of effluent disposal." Judge Dickey found the operation of the system left much to be desired. Waikato Regional compliance manager Patrick Lynch said the farm effluent ponds were inadequate and posed a real risk to the environment. "Mr Lund displayed a lack of understanding of managing effluent effectively and safely on the property," Lynch said. "Moving into the wetter and busier time of the year for farmers, this prosecution is a timely reminder to all farmers that there needs to be adequate effluent infrastructure and good effluent management systems on every farm." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Sky News
16-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Welsh Water fined £1.35m over sewage discharge breaches
A water company has been fined £1.35m over the monitoring of its effluent discharges dating back four years. Welsh Water was also ordered to pay £70,237.70 in costs after pleading guilty to over 800 breaches of its discharge permits. Water companies have been required to self-monitor their effluent discharges from their sewage and water treatment works since 2010. Welsh Water submitted its own discharge data to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) as part of its annual report. The non-compliances, reported in the firm's 2020 and 2021 reports, were related to recording final effluent samples at wastewater treatment works and summarised into 18 offences. The discharges were spread across 300 sites throughout Wales and Herefordshire. Welsh Water pleaded guilty to 15 of the 18 charges on 16 October, with the remaining charges accepted on 17 December. Over 600 of the breaches were recorded in the 2020 report, which Welsh Water said were mainly caused by internal restructuring and the effects of the COVID pandemic. In 2023, the water company had its status downgraded over a rise in pollution incidents. Sian Williams, head of operations at Natural Resources Wales, said the case highlighted "inadequacies in the processes" at Welsh Water. Ms Williams said NRW believe the "failings shown" could have been avoided if "better contingency planning" had been in place. "This is a stark warning to the company that we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers to secure the improvements we expect to see," she added. A Welsh Water spokesperson told Sky News it had a "strong record of compliance" with its monitoring obligations before and after the period in question. "No sites were left unmonitored during this time, but the unique circumstances during 2020/21 caused significant challenges and disruption to our operations," they said. While there had been "no identified environmental harm associated with this case" the company recognised its compliance "fell short" in 2020 and 2021 and had entered a guilty plea "at the earliest opportunity". "Welsh Water will continue to work closely with our regulators to ensure that we deliver on our two main priorities, the best possible service to our customers and protecting the environment," the spokesperson added.
