28 Jun 2019

Ondaedge Farms fined $30,000 for effluent discharge into Waikato River

4:03 pm on 28 June 2019

A Waikato farmer has been convicted for unlawfully discharging dairy effluent into the environment.

Waikato River

Waikato River (file picture) Photo: 123rf.com

Aaron John Miller and his company Ondaedge Farms Limited were prosecuted after an effluent pond was found to be overflowing into a drain leading to the Waikato River.

Ondaedge has now been fined $30,000, while Mr Miller was convicted and discharged without penalty.

The presiding Judge, Melanie Harland, said the offending fell between "reckless and careless".

She said while the conviction related to a single event, the cumulative effect of effluent discharge to the Waikato River was a death by a thousand cuts.

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