Wellington Regional Council says the owners of a Carterton piggery and a farm manager have been fined almost $30,000 for discharging pig effluent into a tributary of a nearby stream.
Reid's Piggery owners Noel and Elaine Reid both received fines of $12,000, while farm manager Stephen Shivas was fined $5000 following the incident last November.
Environment Court Judge Craig Thompson described the Reid's irrigation system as "forgotten or neglected".
He said the incident caused water downstream to be "grossly polluted and unfit for consumption," significantly affecting life in the stream.
