Co Armagh farmer fined £1,000 for water pollution offences

At Newry Magistrates' Court on Monday a Newtownhamilton farmer pleaded guilty to water pollution offences.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Aug 2016, 09:12 BST
Updated 25th Aug 2016, 20:48 BST

Desmond Frazer of Ballymoyer Road was fined a total of £1,000 on one count and given a conditional discharge on a second count.

The court heard that on 30 January 2014 a Water Quality Inspector (WQI), acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), found a waterway at Hawthorne Lane, Newtownhamilton to be grossly polluted. This pollution was traced to runoff from silage clamps and animal manure at Frazer’s farm at Ballymoyer Road, Newtownhamilton.

Samples taken by NIEA confirmed that the discharge was polluting: containing poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life. Follow-up inspections by NIEA staff, carried out on 4 February 2014, 1 April 2014, 27 October 2014 and 29 October 2014, found pollution still escaping.