A judge has fined a dairy farmer $20,000 and sentenced him to 260 hours of community service for what he describes as the largest effluent discharge breach ever before a court in Canterbury.
In November last year, Blair Lloyd pleaded guilty to illegally discharging 44,360 litres of dairy effluent on a Springston property in October 2010 into a waterway that flows into Te Waihora-Lake Ellesmere.
The effluent was allowed to run into the waterway for four days, before it was discovered by staff from the Canterbury regional council.
In a submission from Environment Canterbury, the court was told the lake would be compromised by it.
Judge Kellar told the Christchurch District Court the case was one of the worst of its kind.
