A Waikato farm manager has been convicted for unlawfully discharging effluent into a drain network.
Vernon Paul Madeley was fined $5000 and sentenced to 140 hours of community work for the charges brought against him by Waikato Regional Council.
In May 2024, council officers responded to a complaint about dairy effluent in the rural drainage system near Turua, on the Hauraki Plains, Waikato Council said in a statement.
“Officers inspected a farm where they found an effluent irrigator had stalled, causing effluent to flow into a nearby drain,” a Waikato Council spokesperson said.
“This drain was part of a network designed to discharge into the Waihou River, north of the Turua township.”
Officers determined that the travelling irrigator had “come to its run” and was left to irrigate in the same location for up to a week.
“The defendant stated he was aware the irrigator had come to the end of its run but had simply not got around to shifting it in that week,” the spokesperson said.
At sentencing, Hamilton District Court Judge Melinda Dickey said Madeley was “highly careless” as he did nothing to address the issue.
“The fix was simple, the irrigator needed to be moved in a timely manner, and was not,” Dickey said.
Waikato Regional Council’s regional compliance manager, Patrick Lynch, said the dairy farm had invested money in upgrading effluent infrastructure in recent years.
“This case highlights the fact that good infrastructure must also be well managed throughout the season to avoid causing environmental harm.”
Lynch encouraged all farmers to have documented effluent management plans to ensure all employees and contractors working on their farms knew their responsibilities.
