A farmer has been fined for a pollution offence at Newry Magistrates' Court.
Mr Jeff Mathers from Co Down was fined £2,000, and an offenders levy of £15 after pleading guilty for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.
On 12 February 2015, Water Quality Inspectors (WQIs), acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), inspected a waterway adjacent to Ballygowan Road, Banbridge and observed it to be grossly contaminated with fungus. The discharge was traced to farm premises owned by Mr Mathers. The WQIs inspected silage clamps on the farm of Mr Mathers and observed effluent flowing to the side of the clamps and making its way into a field drain and subsequently into the waterway. A fluorescein tracing dye test carried out confirmed continuity between the effluent flowing from Mr Mathers farm and the waterway.
(CD)
Ireland
UK
Scotland
London










