The South Taranaki District Council's copping the flack for bungling the disposal of buttermilk from Fonterra.

An Environment Court judge has ordered the council to pay 115-thousand dollars for the stench caused by the buttermilk, dumped in an Eltham wastewater treatment plant last year.

Some Eltham residents want to see individuals within the council held responsible.

Chief executive, Craig Stevenson, says no one's being singled out for making mistakes.

"My entire focus has been on sorting this problem. I took a personal lead in ensuring we got on top of this as quickly as we could - and we did," he said.

The Deputy Mayor, stood down from his position for speaking out on the issue, is outraged.

Alex Ballantyne says the chief executive, mayor and others who okayed the project should be held accountable.

"One irony is that I was partly sacked because I was bringing disrepute to the council. Here's the council now getting fined for massive negligence - and that's not worried about," he said.