Farming leader's companies face charges

Companies owned by a senior Federated Farmers official face charges over effluent disposal.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) has charged Brook Farms and Mosbro Farms, near Rakaia, with breaching the Resource Management Act (RMA). The two charges follow an inspection last September.

Federated Farmers dairy vice-chairman Willy Leferink co-owns both companies.

The charges allege that effluent ponding from a travelling irrigator put groundwater at risk of contamination.

Leferink said yesterday that he was not "personally involved", and could not comment further.

Federated Farmers vice-president Frank Brenmuhl said Leferink ran a "tight ship".

"I've seen Willy's operation and they've got very strict rules and regulations, and they've spent a lot of money ensuring they're compliant."

ECan regulation director Kim Drummond said he could not comment on what action could result from the charges.

"There's always opportunities for different arrangements to be struck, depending on how the facts are coming together and our evaluation of the defences that can be offered."

Prosecutions in Canterbury were rare, he said.

"Other areas of the country have quite significant numbers, but Canterbury doesn't breach that prosecution threshold very often. This is one that has, and it's in the process on that basis."

Central Canterbury dairy farming company Corlette Holdings was fined $10,000 in March after pleading guilty to two charges relating to effluent ponding from a travelling irrigator.

The company said a broken hydrant meant the irrigator could not be moved.

- © Fairfax NZ News