No more chicken poo in the Waitakaruru

A fertiliser company was convicted and fined $45,000 at the end of March, following a prosecution taken by Waikato Regional Council.

The fine was for unlawfully discharging chicken effluent leachate into the Waitakaruru River in north Waikato.

Following up on complaints about the company’s impacts on the local watercourse, Waikato Regional Council officers found a large pile of chicken manure with leachate flowing from the pile into the river.

The Waitakaruru River has a lot of swimming spots which people enjoy during summer and this type of pollution made the water unsafe.

This is just one example of what we do behind the scenes to protect preserve our water for future generations.

For more information on our rivers, up to date reports on whether it’s safe to swim in them, and how Waikato Regional Council helps to keep them clean, see our Rivers webpages.