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A Co. Armagh business was fined a total of £3,500 plus £25 court costs at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Central Chemical Supplies Ltd, of Hall Road, Donacloney, Craigavon, was fined for three offences of making a polluting discharge to a waterway and for contravening the requirements of a prevention notice.
On 28 July 2009, officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) served a Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 Article 8 Prevention Notice on the owner of the company, Mr Desmond Savage.
This notice required the company to meet a number of conditions within a set time frame and was served in response to previous pollution problems at the company’s site.
On 14 September 2009 a Senior Water Quality Inspector acting on behalf of NIEA visited the site to confirm compliance with the notice. A flow of liquid running through spilled white powder was observed entering a drain. The company identified the powder as Soda Ash. The Inspector also observed a flow in the overflow pipe from the upper effluent holding tank.
Water Quality Inspectors returned to the site on 28 October 2009 for a further inspection. During this inspection it was observed that there was a foaming discharge through a chamber beside the lower effluent holding tank. An inspection of the upper holding tank revealed a flow through the overflow chamber.
On 10 February 2010, Inspectors revisited to inspect the site. A foaming discharge was observed in the chamber beside the lower effluent tank and the overflow pipe from the upper effluent tank was also running.
Samples taken on 14 September 2009, 28 October 2009 and 10 February 2010 confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which would have been potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.
(GK)
