Northern Ireland Water fined £2000 for water pollution
10th May 2011
Northern Ireland Water Ltd (NIW) was fined £2,000 at Antrim Magistrates' Court last week for making a polluting discharge to a waterway and breach of consent.
On 3 May 2010 an official from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency observed untreated sewage impacting on the Six Mile Water at Antrim for approximately 500 metres.
The source of the polluting discharge was traced to Massereene Sewage Pumping Station (SPS), Antrim, which is owned and operated by NIW.
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.
NIW was charged under Article 7 (1) (a) and 7 (6) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 with the offence of making a polluting discharge to a waterway and contravening the conditions of a discharge consent.
