A County Down farmer submitted a guilty plea and was fined £250 plus £22 court costs at Newry Magistrates' Court.

Mr Alex Waugh, Blackskull Road, Blackskull, Dromore, Co Down, was fined for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.

On 17 January 2012, a Water Quality Inspector, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) inspected a waterway at Blackskull Road, Blackskull, Dromore and observed extensive fungal growth on the bed of the waterway. In excess of 90 metres of waterway was affected by the discharge. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to a farm owned by Mr Waugh.

-- Advertisement --

A sample taken at the time of the incident confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.

(CD/IT)