Convicted of failing to properly manage effluent discharges from his Marlborough dairy farms, Philip John Woolley sued Fonterra for some two million dollars alleging breach of contract for suspending milk collection. Fonterra was justified in stopping collection, the High Court ruled. Woolley had failed to remedy effluent complaints and he couldn’t complain Fonterra failed to pick up milk when cows were milked in breach of environment orders to stop until remediation was complete.
From 2011, environmental issues arose from multiple dairy units operated by Woolley. He was not sympathetic to concerns raised by Marlborough District Council. Police accompanied council staff on some inspections. Resource management enforcement orders were issued by the Environment Court. Woolley was convicted of resource management offences. In 2015, he was prohibited from day-to-day management of any dairy farm for a period of ten years.
In respect of his Glenmae dairy unit in the Upper Wairua Valley, the major issue centred on containment wall permeability at effluent ponds. Woolley said an engineer’s certificate he obtained in 2014 approved the containment system as being compliant. Fonterra’s failure to collect milk from that date was a breach of contract, he said. At this stage, up to 20,000 litres of milk was being dumped each day.
Justice Isac ruled the certificate did not meet Environment Court requirements. A central issue was the level of clay used to create an impermeable pond wall. Certifying engineers were aware of the animosity between Woolley and Marlborough Council. This resulted in an engineering report which proved to be both ambiguous and heavily qualified.
By restocking Glenmae and resuming miking without a valid compliance certificate, Woolley was in breach of both an Environment Court order and his resource consent.
Woolley v. Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd – High Court (8.10.21)
21.166