Owner fined $50,000-plus for farm pollution offences
Illegal discharges of farm effluent from two feedpads at a Ruawai farm in 2009 have cost a Northland man just under $60,000 in fines and court-ordered costs and expenses.
Peter Thomas Flood, was sentenced in the Auckland District Court recently after earlier admitting three charges laid by the Northland Regional Council relating to a dairy farm at Ruawai, about 30 kilometres from Dargaville.
In sentencing notes released recently, Judge Gordon Whiting said the charges arose from the operation of two feedpads near farm drains and water on one of a number of farms owned by corporate identities in which Flood had a controlling interest.
Effluent from the two “badly constructed” feedpads had flown into drains, then into tributaries and into the Kaumangatia River. That river flows about 3km into the Awaroa River, which then flows another 5.5km into the Kaipara Harbour, the nursery grounds for almost 90 percent of West Coast snapper.
The judge said while there was no proof of permanent environmental damage, “it has been said many times in this court that it is the cumulative effects of unlawful discharges that can create adverse environmental impacts”.
Judge Whiting emphasised he was sentencing Flood as the farm’s owner, rather than holding him responsible for “blame, if any, apportioned to the farm manager”.
“You see Mr Flood, as owner, you are responsible for, and make the decisions for, the type and standard of farm infrastructure.”
“I first got the impression that you were in self-denial as to any wrongdoing, but I now detect an acknowledgement of your responsibilities as owner and a sense of remorse for failing to live up to those responsibilities.”
The judge said deterrence was an important factor in sentencing on environmental matters.
As far as deterring Flood personally was concerned, he had no doubt that Flood’s court appearances “over what I have described as a lengthy and tortuous process should no doubt have an indelible imprint on your memory”.
However, it was also important to send a deterrence signal to the dairy industry that it was time “owners scrubbed up and accepted their responsibilities as owners”.
“That such a signal is necessary is reflected in the poor non-compliance statistics of dairy farms in the Northland region…”
The judge said although the offending for which Flood was being sentenced had occurred in mid-2009, the regional council had noted a number of breaches of resource consent conditions over at least five visits between 2003 and March 2009.
Those breaches should have put Flood on notice, alerted him to potential problems and pointed to a “systemic failure and/or a failure of want of care”.
The judge said overall he considered Flood’s offending to be at the lower to middle end of the moderately serious band of offending for such matters.
“I assess your culpability as a failure to exercise the necessary care, as opposed to an overt action.”
He said Flood’s good character, guilty pleas and other mitigating factors entitled him to a 20% reduction in the amount he would otherwise been fined, ordering him to pay a total of $53,000 in fines with another $6744 in court costs, expenses and fees.
Judge Whiting ordered the money be paid in nine equal monthly instalments.
Speaking after the sentencing, the council’s Operations Director Tony Phipps said the court had once again sent a very clear message to Northland’s dairy farmers that effluent needed to be treated and managed properly.