Wellington Regional Council is to prosecute the owners and manager of a Carterton piggery accused of letting effluent enter a waterway.
The council says pig effluent was discharged on land on 26 November last year, causing ponding and subsequent run-off into a tributary of the Parkvale Stream.
It says analysis of stream samples confirmed the incident caused substantial increases in the level of contaminants downstream from where the effluent entered the water, with bacterial counts similar to those found in raw municipal sewage.
Council spokesperson Alistair Cross says the piggery has a long history of not complying with resource consent conditions.
