A Co Armagh man has been convicted and fined for fish kill costs and polluting a waterway with slurry.
Sean Magill, from Quarter Road, Camlough, was convicted at Newry Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
He was fined £500, an offender’s levy of £15, plus a compensation order for £1,750 for fish kill costs to be paid to the Loughs Agency.
Water Quality Inspectors, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), inspected a waterway at Millvale, Bessbrook, and observed the waterway to be brown in colour and foaming. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to a farm at Divernagh Road, Bessbrook.
Sean Magill had accessed the slurry tanks to draw off slurry, without the permission of the farm owner who was on holidays at the time.
The valves at the slurry tank had been left open and an inspection of the waterway by officers from the Loughs Agency confirmed 582 dead eels, trout and other fish up to five miles downstream.
Samples 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.
DAERA said farmers are to ensure that valves at slurry tanks are firmly closed immediately following the drawing off of loads of slurry.
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Tyrone farmer given suspended sentence and fined over £9,600
A Co Armagh man has been convicted and fined for fish kill costs and polluting a waterway with slurry.
Sean Magill, from Quarter Road, Camlough, was convicted at Newry Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
He was fined £500, an offender’s levy of £15, plus a compensation order for £1,750 for fish kill costs to be paid to the Loughs Agency.
Water Quality Inspectors, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), inspected a waterway at Millvale, Bessbrook, and observed the waterway to be brown in colour and foaming. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to a farm at Divernagh Road, Bessbrook.
Sean Magill had accessed the slurry tanks to draw off slurry, without the permission of the farm owner who was on holidays at the time.
The valves at the slurry tank had been left open and an inspection of the waterway by officers from the Loughs Agency confirmed 582 dead eels, trout and other fish up to five miles downstream.
Samples 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.
DAERA said farmers are to ensure that valves at slurry tanks are firmly closed immediately following the drawing off of loads of slurry.
Read more
Tyrone farmer given suspended sentence and fined over £9,600
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