Cambridge company fined $64k for pumping contaminated water into Waikato stream

Tuesday, 31 October 2017

A composting company allowed chicken manure and leachate to seep into the Waikato River tributary in what a judge described as 'poor management'. 

Cambridge company Remediation (NZ) Ltd, trading as Revital Group, has been convicted and fined $64,125 for a number of illegal discharges into a stream that flows to the Waikato River.

The company operates a composting and quarry facility on Cambridge Rd where it was found to be discharging chicken manure and green-waste leachate.

The leachate contained high levels of E. coli, which can affect human health, Waikato Regional Council said in a statement. 

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Investigations also revealed chicken manure had been illegally stored adjacent to the holding pond, which also contributed to the contamination. 

Waikato Regional Council was alerted to the activity in September last year following a complaint from the public who discovered part of the waterway was brown, foamy and smelt strongly of effluent.

Investigations by council staff tracked the contamination back to the company's property. 

'Enquiries at the property revealed that a large, trailer mounted pump had been hired by the company and used to pump approximately 1.6 million litres of leachate from a holding pond into the nearby stream,' Waikato Regional Council said in a statement. 

'The site also operates a quarry, which was found to be discharging unacceptable levels of sediment into the same stream.'

The company was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court this month where Judge Melanie Harland said the company had favoured economics over environmental compliance.  

She said the company showed 'very poor management practices and understanding about the company's obligations under its resource consents'.

The judge also noted the need for specific deterrence, given the company had a previous conviction and as it did not appear to have 'learnt its lesson'. 

Remediation (NZ) Ltd was also convicted for breaching the Resource Management Act in 2010 following a prosecution by the Taranaki Regional Council for breaches of resource consent. 

Waikato Regional Council investigator Patrick Lynch said the prosecution was about sending a clear message to  companies.

'We need to take care of the environment. Any company getting a $64,000 fine, that's a message from the courts to change.'