EPA Victoria’s inspections of 43 dairy farms across three eastern Gippsland municipalities have found just eight of them passed
the test for appropriate management of dairy effluent.
EPA authorised officers inspected dairy facilities on farms in Wellington, South Gippsland and East Gippsland Shires for leaks, poorly managed effluent ponds, faulty pumps and pipes and contamination of nearby waterways and neighbouring farms.
Some of the farms where dairy effluent was best managed achieved success with conventional maintenance of ponds and equipment, while two stood out with new approaches, one with a fully automated dairy system and the other with concrete pads and a porous wall that sent liquid to storage tanks and avoided the need for ponds altogether.
However, EPA Gippsland regional manager Jessica Bandiera says poor management of dairy effluent is still far too common.
“Dairy effluent is valuable fertiliser for your pasture if you manage it well, but it becomes a pollutant and a source of disease if it escapes to a waterway or neighbouring farm,” Ms Bandiera said.
“We continue to identify non-compliant effluent management systems on dairy farms, this round of inspections identified risks to human health and the environment from bacteria, algae blooms from the increase in nutrient loads on waterways, and other hazards to the environment, livestock and people’s health.”
The inspections through February
and March this year comprised the
region’s fourth dairy operation over the past 18 months, with more than 100 farms inspected so far.
EPA officers running the latest operation issued six farms with Environmental Action Notices (EAN’s) requiring the landholders to take specific actions by a set deadline, and they gave written compliance advice to the operators of 19 more farms.
The main issues they identified included:
– Too much vegetation growing in ponds
– Incorrect storage and bunding of farm chemicals
– Unregistered stockpiles of waste tyres for silage management
– Effluent ponds in need of desludging to restore their effectiveness
“We did not issue any fines this time, but mismanaged dairy effluent is a regular problem right across the region, we have issued fines in past, and anyone running a dairy farm should take the issue seriously,” Ms Bandiera said.
