A Co. Tyrone farmer has been convicted and fined at Omagh Magistrates’ Court in relation to farm effluent pollution.
23-year-old Henry McCarney, from Garvallagh Road, Fintona, pleaded guilty and was fined £750 plus a £15 offenders levy for an offence under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, as amended.
The court was told that on October 3, 2023, Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) Water Quality Inspectors (WQIs) examined a tributary of the Eskragh Water, which is known locally as Agharonan Drain.
The water was found to be polluted extensively with sewage fungus.
Court
The court heard that an NIEA inspector discovered a grossly polluted sheugh or ditch at the northern end of McCarney’s farm.
This was discharging farm effluent with the odour and appearance of silage effluent into the drain.
It was noted that upstream of this point the Agharonan Drain was found to be clean.
The inspectors examined a manhole on the farm, where the evidence showed that a recent discharge to the storm water system had occurred.
The court heard that this incident was classified as medium severity with approximately 300m of waterway impacted by this discharge.
A tripartite statutory sample was collected from the end of the sheugh where it entered the main waterway and was analysed.
NIEA said that the material represented by the sample contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which would have been potentially harmful to aquatic life in a receiving waterway.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said that it is an offence under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 to make a polluting discharge to a waterway and to make a discharge of trade or sewage effluent into a waterway.
Anyone wishing to report a pollution incident can call the 24-hour Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
