A Co Antrim farmer was fined £1,500 plus £15 Offenders Levy at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court today.
Mr Roger Love, Heagles Road, Ballymoney, was fined for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.
On 18 September 2014, Water Quality Inspectors, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) inspected an unnamed tributary of the Lower River Bann and observed that the bed of the waterway was covered in a grey fungal growth. The polluting discharge was traced to farm premises owned by Mr Roger Love. The Inspectors observed silage effluent leaking from a crack in the silage clamp before making its way to the waterway. The polluting discharge was traced upstream to farm premises owned by Mr Roger Love. The length of waterway impacted by the discharge was approximately 1km.
A sample taken at the time of the incident confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.
Anyone wishing to report a pollution incident can call the 24 hour Water Pollution Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
