Waihi farmer fined $39,000 for discharging cow waste

· RNZ
Keith Torrens was fined $39,000 for discharging cow waste. File picture.Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

A Waihi dairy farmer has been fined almost $40,000 for discharging cow waste.

It comes after inspectors found two unlawful discharges at Keith Torrens' farm in October 2023, one from the dairy shed and another due to over-irrigation.

The Waikato Regional Council said Torrens had very limited storage capacity, which meant wastewater was likely to overflow in bad weather.

Compliance manager Patrick Lynch said he had purchased a storage bladder years earlier but never installed it, despite a formal warning for previous breaches.

"Dairy effluent systems need to be fit for purpose, robust and carefully managed to avoid environmental harm," Lynch said in a statement.

Torrens pleaded guilty and was fined $39,000.

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