Four dairy farmers from the Opotiki district are due to appear in the Whakatane District Court on Wednesday and Thursday to defend dairy effluent charges.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council is prosecuting them for allegedly discharging pumped dairy effluent water into a drain and failing to comply with a court order that they obtain a report on their farm contingency plans for effluent.
In September three dairy farmers who were convicted in the Tauranga District Court for illegally discharging effluent were fined a total of $89,000.
This year courts in Bay of Plenty have imposed fines totalling nearly $250,000 for dairy effluent being illegally discharged into waterways and streams.