Northern Ireland Water (NI Water) has been fined £1,500 plus £25 court costs at Dungannon Magistrates' Court for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.

On 7 May 2008, a Water Quality Inspector, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (formerly the Environment and Heritage Service) inspected the Torrent River adjacent to Ballynakilly and observed a discharge that appeared to be untreated sewage.

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The source was traced to a Combined Sewage Overflow, which was discharging to an unnamed tributary of the Torrent River.

This was reported to NI Water on 7 May 2008. No one from NI Water attended the incident on 7 May 2008. At 9.00am on 8 May 2008 the inspector received a call from an officer from NI Water advising that he had been made aware of the incident.

He later advised that a blocked sewer had caused the incident. NI Water contractors arrived on site on 8 May 2008 and cleared the blockage and removed sewage related debris on the same day.

A sample taken on 7 May 2008 confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious and polluting matter, which would have been potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.

(NS/BMcc)