A farmer in Co Down has been fined for a pollution incident that caused a fish kill in the River Lagan.
Alan Wilson, of Lurgan Road, Dromore, was charged for making a polluting discharge to a waterway after dead fish were found in a stretch of the Lagan on August 23, 2022.
The following day an inspection was carried out by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, which identified a black plastic pipe discharging brown coloured farm effluent into the river.
The contamination was caused by urea fertiliser entering the Lagan through storm drainage systems on Mr Wilson’s farm.
A water sample was taken and found to contain poisonous, noxious, or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life.
The farmer pleaded guilty to the pollution offence at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and was fined £750 plus £15 Offenders Levy, and was ordered to pay £960.64 compensation to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
