Farmer convicted at Magherafelt Magistrates’ Court for Water Pollution Offence
Date published:
Stephen William Bell (64), Oaklea Road, Magherafelt was convicted today at Magherafelt Magistrates' Court sitting in Londonderry, under Article 7(1)(a) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, as amended.
Mr Stephen William Bell was fined £1500 plus £15 Offenders Levy.
The Court heard that NIEA Water Quality Inspectors responded to a report of water pollution from farm premises at Oaklea Road, Magherafelt on 19 December 2023. The bed of the waterway downstream was covered in grey fungus and an agricultural odour was detected from the water. The NIEA Inspectors discovered a concrete pipe actively discharging cattle slurry to the waterway. This discharge was creating a green coloured plume in the waterway. The NIEA Inspectors examined the farmyard where they discovered slurry was flowing from the direction of a dirty water tank and pooling on the yard. This was then flowing to a drainage grating which was connected to the concrete pipe that was discharging to the waterway.
A statutory sample of the discharge, from the concrete pipe, was collected for analyses. The analyses indicated that the sample contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which would have been potentially harmful to aquatic life in a receiving waterway.
This incident affected an unnamed tributary of Lough Neagh. The waterway was observed to be impacted for approximately 300 metres.
Anyone wishing to report a water pollution incident can call the 24 hour NIEA Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
Notes to editors:
- It is an offence under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (as amended by the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006) under Article 7(1)(a) to make a polluting discharge to a waterway, under Article 7(2) to make a discharge of trade or sewage effluent into a waterway and under Article 7(6) for contravening the conditions of a consent issued under Article 7A3(a). This list is not exhaustive.
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