County Tyrone food processors Moy Park Ltd have been fined £6,000 after pleading guilty for two water pollution offences at Craigavon Magistrates' Court yesterday.

These offences first came to light on June 5 2006, when an officer from the Environment and Heritage Service traced pollution of a stream on the outskirts of Dungannon, Co Tyrone back to Moy Park Ltd's processing plant at Killyman Road.

-- Advertisement --

Scum and foam was found escaping from a concrete pipe at the plant into the nearby stream and analysis of samples taken at the time later confirmed that this discharge was polluting. The investigating officer spoke to company representatives and told them that this pollution needed to be stopped.

The following day when Environment and Heritage Service carried out a follow-up visit, a second and separate polluting discharge from the plant was discovered.

Samples were taken again and later analysis showed that this discharge had been even more polluting than the previous day's pollution incident.

This is the third time Moy Park, which is known primarily for poultry processing, has been fined for pollution offences since 1998.

(GK/JM)