June 29, 2014
Farmers paid to pollute says scientist
Days after a national hui called for more action to clean up the nation’s waterways to protect eel populations, a leading scientist is warning that dairy farmers are being paid to pollute.
Dr Mike Joy from Massey University told TV One’s Q+A programme that while individual farmers have gotten better about mitigating effluent flows, the huge expansion of dairying in recent years means water quality is suffering.
He says farmers are incentivised to pollute rivers because they're not being charged for the impacts.
Dr Joy says if the number of cows were capped at current numbers, it could still take 10 or 20 years to fix the pollution.
Federated Farmers President Bruce Wills conceded that the dairying boom got ahead of the environmental responsibility.
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