District council fined for Easter discharge of wastewater at Matamata

Matamata-Piako District Council has been convicted and fined $67,500 in the Hamilton District Court this week for unlawfully discharging a large volume of wastewater, including untreated human effluent, over a five-day period in April 2023.

The case related to an ongoing discharge over the Easter holiday period from the district council’s wastewater treatment plant in Matamata into the Mangawhero Stream, which flows to the Waihou River.

The discharge occurred when there was a failure to turn on key equipment, and then a series of automated warning messages that the system was at critical levels, were not responded to.

The case was taken by Waikato Regional Council following a formal investigation. It was estimated that no less than 2.8 million litres of wastewater was discharged to the river.

In passing sentence, Judge Melinda Dickey said she found the council’s offending “highly careless” and “that multiple alarms were raised, and their being ignored had serious consequences”. 

Judge Dickey acknowledged the significant cultural, spiritual, historical and environmental importance of the receiving waterways.