A Northern Irish farmer has been fined £4,000 for causing water pollution in County Down.
The farmer, Ian McFarlane of Ballygrainey Road, Holywood, was convicted and fined £4,000 plus £15 Offenders Levy at Newtownards Magistrates' Court for causing water pollution.
On 18 September 2017 a Water Quality Inspector, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, investigated a pollution incident which resulted in farm effluent being discharged to an unnamed stream near Helen’s Bay, which discharges to Belfast Lough.
The source of pollution was traced to a farm at Ballygrainey Road, Holywood.
The inspector discovered a storm manhole in the yard had slurry flowing through it and an overflow tank downstream of the farm was observed to be full of slurry.
In accordance with procedures a statutory sample of the flow to the overflow tank was collected. The inspector discovered sewage fungus in the open stream and at Craigdarragh Road, a distance of 1.6km downstream of the farm.
The sample of the discharge collected on 18 September 2017 was analysed and found to poisonous, noxious, or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.
According to NI's Department of Agriculture, effluent of this nature enrich fungus coverage on the bed of the watercourse which may lead to the destruction of fish spawning sites.
