5 September 2017

Otorohanga stream ‘runs green’ with effluent

A stream running green with dairy effluent from two separate sources on the same Otorohanga dairy farm has appalled Waikato Regional Council officers.

“The council is particularly concerned that one of the discharges to the stream appears to have been ongoing and deliberate,” said investigations manager Patrick Lynch.

The contamination was found in the stream west of Otorohanga on Friday after a tip-off from a member of the public.

“We do not usually report this kind of incident until after it has been through a court process,” said Mr Lynch.

“However, what we found on this occasion is of real concern. We have many farmers doing the right thing by the environment in our region but unfortunately there are still some in the sector who, quite simply, don’t seem to care.”

Mr Lynch said he was very thankful to the member of the public who contacted the council and provided very good information.

“This person had noted that a stream, that normally runs clear, was running green over several days particularly early in the morning. Our incident response team did an excellent job on Friday morning by being at the stream at first light. They observed the pollution in the stream and were able to track it back some distance to its source.

“We will launch a formal investigation and, though we remain open-minded about the circumstances surrounding this, it is very likely that enforcement action will follow.”

Video footage:
Two short video clips are available. They were filmed by the attending officers and show contamination happening to the stream, as well as the pipe that was put in place allegedly to discharge effluent to the stream.

The video clips are in an FTP folder, which expires on 15 September.

1. Select the following link, right click and select Copy
ftp://Contamination:AKlRlvcU@pubftp.waikatoregion.govt.nz
2. Right-click on the Start menu on the Taskbar and select "Open Windows Explorer"
3. Delete any address already in the Address Bar at the top of the window.
Click in the Address Bar, right click and select Paste and then press Enter.
4. The FTP folder will open in the right hand pane.

ends

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