Farmer fined for water pollution

A Hillsborough farmer pleaded guilty and was fined Â£500 on a pollution charge at Lisburn Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 17th May.

By The Newsroom

Published 17th May 2016, 14:20 BST

Updated 17th May 2016, 15:25 BST

Robert Poots, from Edentrillick Hill, was fined for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.

On 18th December 2014, a Water Quality Inspector (WQI) acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) inspected a waterway on a farm and observed it was badly polluted.

The pollution was caused by silage effluent from the silage clamp on the farm seeping and entering the waterway causing it to be polluted for a distance of approximately 900 metres.

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.

Anyone wishing to report a pollution incident can call the 24 hour Water Pollution Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

Hillsborough