A Bay of Plenty business and a dairy farm trustee manager are the recipients of large fines for contaminating waterways in the region.

CMH Contracting Limited is fined $30,500 for discharging contaminants into water and disturbing a stream bed during forestry harvesting.

There is sometimes a fine line between waterway protection and contamination.

The discharge occurred when harvesting was taking place near a tributary of the Mangorewa River, near Te Puke.

Significant volumes of sediment entered the stream, contaminating water and destroying the aquatic habitat.

The other prosecution for contamination was against dairy farm trustee manager Roy Vercoe.

He is convicted for discharging dairy effluent into water and was fined $17,500.

The effluent discharged from a storage pond through an unauthorised pipe which flowed directly into a farm drain. The drain eventually discharged into the Kaituna River.

The two prosecutions came from Bay of Plenty Regional Council and its group water management manager Eddie Grogan says in both cases a lack of appreciation and responsibility for protecting the region's waterways was shown by the offenders.

'These cases stress the need to comply with consent conditions or regional plan rules when carrying out certain activities,” says Eddie.

'If you have any doubt about what you need to do to comply, it is important to seek clarification.

'Those who carry out activities are held accountable, but we would prefer not to have to deal with these situations at all.

'We encourage people to be proactive and seek advice before undertaking activities.

'To protect our environment we need 100 per cent compliance, 365 days a year.

'If you need any advice about an activity you are carrying out, or propose to carry out, contact the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.”