Clean-up of oyster farms to top $3m?

Imran Ali | 7th November 2008

After finalising a drawn-out legal wrangle that threatened to bankrupt them, a group of Bay of Islands oyster farmers now need to find up to $3.5 million to clean up their polluted farms.

The 11 oyster farmers, forced to shut up shop by sewage spills in 2001, were hit with a legal bill of more than $300,000 after unsuccessfully suing the Far North District Council.

The farmers blamed the Kawakawa treatment plant as one of the potential causes of the contamination and tried last year to sue the council for $12 million. But the High Court ruled in the council's favour, saying the pollution could have originated from septic tanks or boats.

Riskpool, the council's insurer, claimed legal costs of $806,031 from the farmers, who offered $200,000 as a full and final settlement. The council has accepted and Farmers of New Zealand operations director Bill Guest said the amount each farmer would contribute depended on the size of their business. But the farmers faced a daunting task of finding up to $3.5 million to clean up their farms.

Mr Guest said his members would ask the Government for financial assistance following the general election. He said farmers simply could not afford the sum needed for the clean-up, especially after paying off $200,000 to the council.

"There are a number of initiatives - apart from requesting government assistance - we are looking at, like getting a forensic accountant and the Far North District Council to help finalise the cost of cleaning up," Mr Guest said.

"The other thing is for the council to make disposal facilities available but that will be a significant cost."

Mr Guest thanked Far North Mayor Wayne Brown for not only being sympathetic to the oyster farmers' plight but reducing their financial burden.

Since their farms in Waikare inlet were closed down in 2001, two farmers have sold their properties, two are leasing other farms and others have switched to trades such as building and painting. Before 2001, about 40 per cent of New Zealand's oyster exports came from Waikare farms, which had employed more than 40 people.