Co Tyrone company convicted for water pollution offence

Creagh Concrete Products Ltd pleaded guilty and was fined £2,500 plus £15 Offenders Levy.

The court heard that on 24 November 2023, Water Quality Inspectors (WQIs), acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), responded to a report of pollution impacting the Cloughfin River, a tributary of the Ballinderry River, that flows through Cookstown and into Lough Neagh. The NIEA Inspectors attended the location and observed that the river was running with an orange/red discolouration. On the Magheraglass Quarry site, the Inspectors discovered that machinery, operating on site, had damaged the wall of an on-site settlement pond/lagoon. The contents of the damaged settlement pond/lagoon had flooded the quarry floor and flowed along a laneway before discharging to the Cloughfin River.

More than 4 kilometres of the Cloughfin River were impacted by the discharge. The NIEA Inspector’s investigation continued during the following days.

A statutory sample collected was analysed and the results indicated that the sample contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which would have been potentially harmful to aquatic life in a receiving waterway. High concentrations of suspended solids in a waterway can have an abrasive effect upon the gills of fish, making them susceptible to infection, and can interfere with their respiration. In addition, suspended solids can settle out in the waterway adversely impacting feeding and breeding habitat.

Anyone wishing to report a water pollution incident can call the 24-hour NIEA Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.