Tokanui man Andrew Wright was today convicted on 35 charges in breach of the Resource Management Act.
Mr Wright was sentenced in the Invercargill District Court today to 12 months’ home detention after being convicted of offences arising from the unlawful operation of his large-scale wagyu feedlot.
The offending occurred between 1 July 2023 and 22 November 2024, during which agricultural effluent was repeatedly discharged from inadequately constructed feedpads and into effluent ponds, which then overflowed, leading to contamination of the Tokanui Stream. Mr Wright also failed to comply with an abatement notice.
Environment Southland was initially alerted to the environmental damage after receiving a complaint from a member of the public in September 2024.
Environment Southland Acting Chief Executive Rob Phillips said the environmental impact of these multiple offences will have a long-term, detrimental effect on the health of the Tokanui Stream, and undermines the efforts farmers and communities are making to protect and improve water quality.
“The non-custodial sentence handed down today demonstrates the severity of the case. This is some of the most extreme effluent discharge offending we’ve seen in RMA history.”
“This case also highlights the important role the public play as our eyes and ears. If anything looks unusual, please let us know so we can check it out as soon as possible.”
During sentencing, Judge Reid said compliance appeared to be a low priority for Mr Wright before imposing the maximum home detention sentence of 12 months.
