A Northern Irish farmer has been ordered to pay out over £1,000 following a river pollution incident in Co Tyrone.
David Kenwell, 38, was convicted and fined at Omagh Magistrates’ Court earlier this week in relation to farm effluent pollution.
The court heard that in August 2022, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency received a report of effluent entering a tributary of the Owenreagh River.
When they visited the farm, agency inspectors discovered that an unlined sump had been constructed from permeable gravel.
The court was told that this construction was allowing silage effluent to escape and enter the waterway via a concrete pipe.
The pollution incident was classified as of medium severity where 1.5km of waterway was impacted by this discharge of silage effluent.
A tripartite statutory sample was collected from the discharge pipe and analysed.
The material represented by the sample contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which would have been potentially harmful to aquatic life in a receiving waterway.
Mr Kenwell pleaded guilty and was fined £1,000 with a £15 offenders levy for an offence under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999.
