UPDATED 8.00pm:Â South Taranaki ratepayers will have to cop the penalty for their council mucking up the way it disposed of excess buttermilk from Fonterra.
An Environment Court judge has ordered the South Taranaki District Council to pay a $115,000 fine.
It admits the three million litres of buttermilk, dumped in an Eltham wastewater treatment pond in October, caused a huge stench.
The judge told the court the Council didn't do its homework, before making a rushed decision to use the mothballed plant.
He says it's ironic the fine has to be paid to another local body - the Taranaki Regional Council.
He asked the regional council to spend the money on a project that benefits Eltham.
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