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A Derry developer was fined a total of £2,000 (€2500) plus costs for pollution offences at Londonderry Magistrates' Court yesterday.
Toland Developments Ltd of Letterkenny Road, pleaded guilty to the two offences and was fined £1,000 on each charge plus court costs of £34 plus analysis costs of £115.99.
On 4 August 2006, an Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) official found that a stream near the sewage treatment plant belonging to the company was badly polluted.
Samples confirmed that the effluent from the sewage treatment plant was polluting, being approximately 44 times the permitted the limit set by the EHS.
Toland Developments Ltd was charged under Article 7 of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 of causing water pollution and Article 9 of The Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 of discharging effluent in excess of permitted levels.
In 2002 the company constructed a development of 55 houses close to the junction of the Letterkenny and Killea Roads, Londonderry. As part of this development, the company applied to EHS for permission to construct a private sewage plant to treat the sewage effluent from these houses. Consent was granted for this sewage treatment plant and it was then constructed.
Between 2003 and 2006, routine inspections by EHS repeatedly found that it was not performing satisfactorily and the company was advised of these problems and the need to resolve them.
(VB/JM)
