Clarrich Farms Pty Ltd, a company registered in Queensland since
April 2015, also operates a 2 site
(Breeder-Grower), 1000 sow operation in Northern NSW region of Australia.
One of those piggery sites is on Jacksons Flat
Road, Jacksons Flat near Tabulam in the Clarence Valley.
NSW EPA, media
release, 23 January 2019:
EPA fines Clarrich Farms
$15,000 for failure to manage waste
The NSW Environment
Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Clarrich Farms Pty Ltd $15,000 for
allegedly mismanaging piggery waste at its Tabulam property.
EPA Regional Director
North Adam Gilligan said Clarrich Farms piggery had failed to properly manage
piggery effluent and other waste materials at the premises, posing a risk of
pollution to the nearby Clarence River and breaching their Environment
Protection Licence.
“The EPA carried out an
inspection of Clarrich Farms in July 2018 in response to a complaint about
offensive odours from the piggery. The inspection identified a large area on
the premises that had been smothered by a thick blanket of effluent sludge,” Mr
Gilligan said.
“Our investigations
found that the previous day the licensee had pumped sludge and liquid effluent
from a treatment dam onto the ground to manage odours emitted from the piggery.
“Analysis of sludge
samples returned highly elevated nutrient and faecal contamination levels.
Phosphorus levels were particularly high.
“During the inspection
EPA officers found the sludge and effluent flowing towards the Clarence River,
ultimately covering approximately 7.25 hectares of ground.”
The EPA required
Clarrich Farms to immediately clean up the sludge, and implement ongoing
measures to contain and reduce the elevated phosphorus levels of the impacted
area of land.
The EPA is also liaising
with Clarrich Farms on the broader environmental management of the facility
including increased environmental monitoring requirements.
The EPA investigates all
reports of suspected pollution and encourages anyone with a concern, or
knowledge of environmental harm to contact the 24-hour EPA Environment Line on
131 555.
Penalty notices are one
of a number of tools the EPA can use to achieve environmental compliance,
including formal warnings, official cautions, licence conditions, notices and
directions and prosecutions. For more information about the EPA’s regulatory
tools, see the EPA Compliance Policy at
www.epa.nsw.gov.au/legislation/prosguid.htm
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