Tougher fines urged for farming polluters

Fish & Game has called on Fonterra to stop taking milk from the country's largest family dairying business after it copped its fourth conviction for illegal dairy discharges.

Taharua Ltd pleaded guilty and was fined $37,500 in the Environment Court in Napier on Friday.

The Green Party, however, says that though this is the biggest fine yet in New Zealand for a single dairy effluent discharge, it is not enough. The party is now calling for bigger fines for rural polluters.

CraFarm Group owns 80 per cent of Taharua, one of 14 farms in the central North Island and Waikato in which Allan Crafar, his wife Elizabeth and brother Frank have interests.

In late 2006, the 2700-hectare farm 28 kilometres southeast of Taupo discharged 188 cubic metres of effluent a day from its dairy shed - well over the 80 cubic metres permitted.

Fish & Game spokesman Bryce Johnson said the Crafars' record was a disgrace.

"It's time for Fonterra to put their money where their mouth is and look at whether these guys should be dairy farming at all. That sort of environmental abuse brings the whole industry into disrepute."

Fonterra's sustainable production manager, John Hutchings, said any level of non-compliance was unacceptable. "Over the last year we have been working with Crafar Group management to ensure their issues are addressed."

At the time of the discharges, the farm was managed by Sam and Davina Webb who won last year's "Central Plateau Farm Manager" title in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards in May. They no longer work on the farm.

Mr Webb was quoted as saying he managed 4500 cows. This drew the attention of Hawke's Bay Regional Council, which executed a search warrant and discovered the offence.

Judge Craig Thompson said the farm's gross revenue for 2007, based on that year's Fonterra payout, would have been about $5 million.

Judge Thompson said those managing the company "must have been aware of the high importance of compliance with resource consents".

He fined the company $37,500.

But that amount "is not going to make a big dent in their profit margin", Greens co-leader Russel Norman said. The Crafars had repeatedly breached consents in discharging effluents into rivers and streams, indicating that the fines were not working as a deterrent.

"Clearly these are very serious breaches and the fines are too low ... I'd like to see larger fines being applied."

The maximum fine available to judges was $200,000 but judges did not seem to be using it.

"If that means we have to change the law, then perhaps we should," Dr Norman said.

Allan Crafar said: "We're doing all we can to avert that sort of thing happening again."

- © Fairfax NZ News