After nearly three years of enforcement action and prosecutions, the Otago Regional Council is $82,000 in the black.
Since April 2008, the council has spent $828,784, including legal costs ($274,412) and staff time ($448,432), and has so far recovered $911,286, in court-imposed fines ($835,480) and revenue ($75,806), figures released by the council show.
Sixty of the 66 prosecutions involved dairy effluent.
When a prosecution was taken, the courts imposed the sentence and fine, with the council, under the Resource Management Act, awarded 90% of that fine.
The fine was collected by the courts and then given to the regional council.
The system meant the council was often "drip fed" fines so the figure the council had so far collected was not final, council resource management director Dr Selva Selvarajah said.
"It is a moving target. In about half the cases we have lost money and in half gained money."
In three cases the council received nothing because the sentence was community service.
Prosecuting people for consent breaches or for other reasons under the RMA was about the deterrent factor, not about revenue gathering or ending up with a positive or negative balance, Dr Selva said.
A report to the regulatory committee last week detailed enforcement action in the last six months of 2010 showed $566,600 in fines were imposed by the courts in 39 charges against 22 parties, in nine separate cases.
The cases followed incidents in Waitaki (5), South West Otago (2), Taieri Plains (1) and Dunedin (1), mostly for the discharge of contaminants to water and to air.
The council also imposed 19 infringement notices including 11 in the Waitaki mostly for the discharge of contaminants to air (5) and to water (4).
Dr Selvarajah said the council was surprised by the dominance of the Waitaki in those figures as during the previous milking season the region did not come to notice.
An increase in intensive farming and irrigation in the region, combined with difficult soil types for those activities, probably contributed, he said.
Three further prosecutions had been authorised during the period, one each in Clutha, Central Otago and North Otago.
Prosecution examples
• Fine $96,300, amount received to date $1557, cost of case to ORC $18,000
• Fine $20,000, cost of case to ORC $90,000
• $500 infringement notice defended, went to Environment Court, ORC took the case to the High Court due to wider implications of decision, cost ORC $58,000
