Sixmilecross business fined £750 for a pollution offence

A Co Tyrone business was fined £750 plus £22 court costs at Omagh Magistrates' Court today.

McGarrity Brothers Ltd, Inishitave Road, Sixmilecross, Co Tyrone, was fined for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.

On 24 March 2009, a Water Quality Inspector, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) observed a waterway to be discoloured brown and silty.

The source of the polluting discharge was traced to the McGarrity Brothers Ltd quarry at Inishitave Road, Sixmilecross.

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.

Notes to editors:

1. McGarrity Brothers Ltd was charged under Article 7 (1) (a) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 with the offence of making a polluting discharge to a waterway.
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