The council said this week formal warnings for breaches of the Resource Management Act had been issued to three parties over the discharge of five million tonnes of buttermilk at an Atiamuri property in October.
However, it did not name the parties, despite saying last year the byproduct came from Fonterra factories.
“Everyone in the industry knows who it was but as far as the public is concerned it could be any of us,” a spokesman for one dairy company said.
The council was quick to name other dairy companies involved in more minor environmental complaints, he said.
Fonterra is the country’s biggest dairy processor by far, collecting about 87% of the national raw milk supply.
Council investigations manager Patrick Lynch said it was unusual for the council to issue a public statement about the result of an investigation if it led to a lesser form of action than a prosecution, as in this case.
But there had been strong public interest in the case and in not “naming and shaming” any party when advising of the investigation’s conclusion, the council had been trying to be consistent with that policy.
Fonterra had no problem with being known as the source of the buttermilk, the company’s director of New Zealand operations Robert Spurway said.
“We are absolutely transparent. We are the dairy company involved. We have no problem being named.”
Council investigations manager Patrick Lynch said in a statement this week what looked initially like a serious environmental incident at Atiamuri actually looked far worse than it was.
The council’s investigation left it satisfied there was no loss of contaminants to ground or surface water, he said.
“All of the contaminant has been removed and lawfully disposed of.
“The discharge was a very large volume and its discharge into the storage pond was unlawful.
“However, taking into account the lack of adverse environmental effect and the positive response by the parties involved we have decided to issue formal warnings to the land owner, an individual involved in the management of the property, and the dairy supply company involved.
“We are also satisfied that changes to procedures at the dairy supply company concerned make a recurrence of this event extremely unlikely.”
Despite failing to name the dairy company this week, the council said while investigating the buttermilk lake in October Fonterra needed to review its contingency plans for disposing of milk by-product in a high-production season.
It was found trucks had transported the buttermilk from Fonterra plants, including Te Rapa and Edgecombe, to the Tram Rd farm at Atiamuri as the dairy co-operative grappled with the season’s peak milk-production period.
