Booming Waikato milk production has caused more complaints about smelly dairy waste, this time at Waharoa, near Matamata.
Waikato Regional Council said it had formally instructed Open Country Dairy to cease the discharge of objectionable odour from its Waharoa site, following about 19 complaints from neighbours since October 22.
The complaints come on the heels of council investigation into a big buttermilk lake created last month on a farm at Atiamuri.
Te Awamutu residents have also complained to the council about offensive dairy waste odours.
Council resource use group spokesman David Stagg said Open Country had advised the smell at Waharoa followed accidental discharges of dairy waste to its treatment ponds and that it was tackling the issue with a range of measures.
Open Country chief executive Steve Koekemoer said the company acted as soon as it was notified about complaints and was installing additional aerators in the ponds. It was also looking to find a long-term solution to cope with more waste water.
The company had not experienced odour problems at the plant for years, he said. The council said it would consider its next steps once the Waharoa investigation was complete.
Meanwhile the council has said its investigation into circumstances around the creation of the Atiamuri buttermilk lake could take many weeks. Industry observers have said it would take months to irrigate all the accumulated dairy waste on to land. The buttermilk was trucked to the site from Fonterra plants, including Te Rapa and Edgecumbe, as the dairy giant grappled with high spring volumes of by-product from initial milk processing.
Source: Stuff