A Hawke's Bay dairy farming operation has been fined $3000 for discharging effluent into a stream on the property.
Patoka Dairies which milks more than 1800 cows on a farm north west of Napier, pleaded guilty on Friday in the Environment Court in Napier to a charge of breaching a resource consent.
The court heard a Hawke's Bay Regional Council officer visited the farm in February to carry out an annual inspection.
During the visit a farm employee uncoupled a hose from a travelling effluent irrigator, which resulted in liquid manure contaminating a nearby waterway.
Judge Craig Thompson agreed with the prosecution that the offence was due to carelessness rather than being a deliberate act.
