A farmer in Northern Ireland has been convicted in court for water pollution offence that resulted in a fish kill.
Karen Patterson of Ashfield Farm, Ballycrochan Road, Bangor pleaded guilty today (Friday, March 20) at Newtownards Magistrates’ Court for an Offence under Article 7(2) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, as amended.
The 54-year-old was convicted and given a Conditional Discharge plus £15 offenders levy.
Court
The xourt heard that on January 9 and 10, 2025, water quality inspectors acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) conducted inspections of the Cotton River at Ballycrochan Road, Bangor.
During the visit on 9 January, the NIEA inspectors observed that the Cotton River, a tributary of the Ballyholme River was heavily discoloured, appearing brown in colour with a strong agricultural odour.
Upstream of this location, the waterway was noted by the inspectors to be running clean and clear.
A brown plume of agricultural effluent was traced to a small waterway where it emerged from a culvert near farm premises on Ballycrochan Road.
Slurry
On the farm, the NIEA inspectors identified a cattle slurry lagoon situated beside a concrete chamber.
The chamber was equipped with a valve system, designed to regulate the movement of slurry between the lagoon and the chamber.
The valve was found to have suffered a mechanical failure and had broken.
As a consequence, slurry escaped from the chamber in an uncontrolled manner and discharged directly into the Cotton River, through underground pipework and caused a significant impact on the water environment.
The court was told that fisheries protection officers attended the affected site on January 9 and 10, 2025 to conduct a ‘fish kill’ survey following the pollution incident.
A total of 73 brown trout and 45 eels were recorded as having been killed, as a result of the discharge.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said that a nyone wishing to report a water pollution incident can call the 24-hour NIEA Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
