A fertiliser company has been fined $45,000 for discharging chicken effluent into the Waitakaruru River in north Waikato.

Chicken effluent. Source: Supplied

Bennet Fertilisers Limited run a business where they collect chicken effluent from commercial chicken farms and on-sell it as fertiliser. The site is operated near the Waitakaruru River at Maramarau.

In June 2018 the council received complaints about the company’s impact on the local watercourse. Regional council officers found a large pile of chicken manure with leachate flowing from the pile into the river in several places, the Waikato Regional Council said in a statement.

Even though there was immediate direction by the council to cease the discharge, it continued for up to four weeks.

The convictions were imposed by Judge D.A Kirkpatrick in the Auckland District Court on March 20 this year.

Judge Kirkpatrick stated he viewed the offending as serious, because the company knew the chicken manure needed containment.