Farmer fined at Antrim court for water pollution offence

A court in Northern Ireland has fined a farmer for a water pollution offence that resulted in a fish kill.

Seamus Kane of Ballymena Road, Doagh was convicted today (Monday, February 2) at Antrim Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ballymena, under Article 7(1)(a) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, as amended.

The 52-year-old was convicted and was fined £1,000, plus a £15 Offenders Levy.

Court

The court heard that water quality inspectors from Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) responded to a report of slurry in the Four Mile Burn at Doagh.

Dead fish and invertebrates were observed in the Four Mile Burn and further upstream into the Ballyclover Burn, both tributaries of the Six Mile Water.

Inspectors traced the pollution by following the trail of dead fish to a pipe actively discharging green liquid into the waterway, liquid which had a strong agricultural odour.

The dead fish were found below the discharge point, while live fish were observed upstream.

Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Inland Fisheries counted a total of 1,109 dead brown trout between 5 centimetres and 25 centimetres in length.

Farm

On the farm, inspectors examined an inspection chamber through which slurry was observed to be flowing.

The court that a dye test confirmed that this chamber was directly connected to the waterway.

As part of the investigation, a statutory sample of the discharge was collected and analysed.

The sample results indicated that the sample contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which would have been potentially harmful to aquatic life in a receiving waterway.

Both the Ballyclover Burn and the Four Mile Burn were significantly impacted, with dead fish observed along a six kilometre length of the river.

DAERA said that it is an offence 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 water pollution incident can call the 24-hour NIEA incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

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