Fonterra dumped buttermilk by-product at the Eltham wastewater treatment plant as it dealt with record milk production.

Fonterra has been fined $192,000 for its part in causing the Eltham buttermilk stink.

And it was a contrite dairy giant who appeared for sentencing in the Environment Court at New Plymouth on Monday.

Fonterra's lawyer Jason Sandford said the company was "very sorry" for its role in the milk waste saga which has plagued Eltham since October 2013.

"Fonterra fully accepts responsibility for this incident," he said.

Fonterra had pleaded not guilty to a charge laid by the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) of discharging odorous compounds into the Eltham air between March 6 and May 16 last year. However, after a three day hearing before Judge Brian Dwyer in July, the company was found guilty.

In September 2013, Fonterra approached the South Taranaki District Council (STDC) for assistance to off-load millions of litres of buttermilk following an unforeseen "super flush" or over-supply of milk. After some inquiries, the STDC informed Fonterra that Eltham's eader, or earthen anaerobic digester, could be used as a means to store and treat the milk waste.

Fonterra agreed to pay STDC $11 per cubic metre of buttermilk on the basis that eight million litres of it would be dumped in Eltham but by October 2013 the delivery stopped due to numerous complaints nearby residents made about the foul smell the rotting by-products had created.

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At sentencing, Sandford said Fonterra should have been better equipped to manage with the over-supply of milk and had since upgraded its facilities and revised its contingency plans to ensure the situation which lead to three million litres of buttermilk and 150,000 litres of raw milk being dumped at the Eltham Waste Water Treatment plant would never happen again.

"There will never be a situation again where we will be caught short," he said.

He also said the company was sorry for the "discomfort, pain and misery" suffered by the Eltham community.

TRC's lawyer Karenza de Silva sought a fine between $270,000-$290,000 for the offending. The maximum fine which could have been imposed was $680,000.

She said the company had a "high level" of culpability for the damage caused and also cited its three previous convictions and a history of non-compliance with consents. She said 25 infringement notices and four abatement notices had been issued by TRC against Fonterra between 2006-2014.

Dwyer said the community had been adversely affected by Fonterra's decision to dump the milk waste into the eader.

He said the residents were subjected to a "prolonged attack on their quality of life," which included health complaints like nausea and headaches.

Although he accepted Fonterra's "sincere expression of regret," and its attempts to help fix the problems once they started, he said the responsibility was squarely on the company to ensure it dealt with any of its milk waste properly.

"It had the prime responsibility to ensure it was disposed of in a manner that did not have an impact on the environment," he said.

Along with the $192,000 fine, Dwyer also imposed legal and court costs.

Outside of court, Eltham residents said they were still waiting for a face to face apology from Fonterra.

Lisa Salisbury said it was one thing to say sorry in court, but the company had not returned the same courtesy to them.

"They can't be bothered - we are just nobodies to them," she said.

Another resident, Susan Helms-Smith said people were still suffering from the physical and financial fallout.

"We just have to keep living our lives with all this damage," she said.

TRC declined to comment on the court outcome.

STDC was also prosecuted by TRC for its role in the debacle and was fined $115,000 in November last year after pleading guilty to one charge laid under the Resource Management Act.