A court in Northern Ireland has fined a man £500 plus a £15 offenders levy for a water pollution offence in which “agricultural material” was observed to be discharging into a river.
The man, described as a farmer and with an address at Castlerock, just outside Coleraine, was convicted on Friday (February 7) at Coleraine Magistrates Court.
He had pleaded guilty to the offence.
The court heard that, on June 7, 2023, water quality inspectors with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency examined the Articlave River where they discovered a “grey fungus” on the bed of the waterway.
The source of the pollution was traced upstream to the rear of farm buildings.
The court heard that, at that location, a flow of agricultural material, described as having the appearance of silage effluent, was observed to be discharging to the Articlave River via an open drain and stone drain.
As part of the investigation, a statutory sample of the discharge was collected and analysed.
Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said that the results indicated that the sample contained “poisonous, noxious or polluting” matter which would have been potentially harmful to aquatic life in a receiving waterway.
Under Northern Irish laws, it is an offence to make a polluting discharge to a waterway; to make a discharge of trade or sewage effluent into a waterway; and to contravene the conditions of an environmental consent.
Mayo court fines Uisce Éireann
In the Republic of Ireland, Uisce Éireann was convicted last month after a sewage discharge polluted a popular angling lake in Co. Mayo, killing almost 1,000 fish.
The case, held at Castlebar District Court, heard that effluent from Uisce Éireann’s wastewater pumping station in Claremorris flowed into Clare Lake, killing at least 945 fish over a two-week period.
The utility was found to have committed a water pollution breach, and must pay a fine of €4,000 and €7,131 in costs and expenses to IFI.
IFI said that the pollution incident occurred on April 26, 2024 and may have also had a secondary impact on water quality in the River Robe as the lake forms part of its catchment.
