Farmer convicted of polluting approximately 600 metres of a waterway

William Graham (65), of Drumgoon Manor, Maguiresbridge, pleaded guilty on Wednesday at Enniskillen Magistrates Court, under Article 7(1)(a) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, as amended.

The court heard NIEA Water Quality Inspectors had been assessing unnamed tributaries of the Tamlaght Stream, between Enniskillen and Lisbellaw, in Co Fermanagh in November 2023 when they saw one tributary, close to a farm premises, was grey in colour with a coating of sewage fungus visible on the bed of the waterway, below a storm pipe.

At the farm, the Inspectors discovered a poor quality discharge, dark in colour and with an agricultural odour, flowing from a storm water manhole to a nearby waterway.

A dye test confirmed the link between the storm water manhole and the pollution which impacted approximately 600m of the waterway.

As part of the investigation, analysis of a statutory sample of the discharge indicated the presence of poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which would have been potentially harmful to aquatic life in a receiving waterway.

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