Waikato Regional Council has congratulated dairy farmers for their environmental performance during last week's dumping of millions of litres of milk.
Fonterra estimates its farmers in Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland had to dump more than 50 million litres of milk that could not be collected and processed when the Maui gas pipeline was shut down to repair a leak.
Waikato regional council compliance and education manager Rob Dragten says there were four reports of milk in waterways and the environmental effects were minor.
He says that shows most farmers tried hard to dispose of their milk correctly.
Mr Dragten says the event was unprecedented and farmers deserve a big pat on the back for the hard work and effort they have put in to make sure the milk stayed out of waterways.
