NI Water has pleaded guilty to a breach of consent in relation to the telemetry alarm system at Millvale Sewage Pumping Station (SPS), Newry, on 19 February 2010.

The firm was fined £750 plus £28 court costs.

The incident was linked to a deliberate act of vandalism of an attenuation tank. Two tyres and a patio chair were dumped into the tank, creating a blockage which led to the tank overflowing.

A spokesperson for NI Water explained: "This incident dates back to early 2010 and was caused by an act of vandalism at the site. However, a technical difficulty delayed the time contractors were sent to the site to resolve the problem.

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"NI Water has worked internally to ensure the technical delay experienced does not happen again. NI Water works hard to prevent the occurrence of pollution incidents; if one occurs we investigate closely to ensure any recommendations are implemented to improve our performance.

"NI Water would appeal for help from the public to reduce these occurrences by not placing inappropriate items in the toilet, down a drain or into the sewers. It is often the case that people genuinely don’t realise the harm they are doing when they dump these items. However, it is clear on this occasion that the tyres and chair were deliberately dumped into the tank.

"Inappropriate items include cotton buds, nappies, sanitary items and unauthorised trade effluent which regularly make their way through the sewerage system and cause serious blockages, leading to the operation of emergency overflows. This can cause harm to property, wildlife and the environment."

NI Water co-operated fully with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency throughout the process.

(CD/GK)