James Boyd and Sons (Carnmoney) Ltd, The Square, Ballyclare was fined £500 for each charge plus £67 court costs at Belfast Magistrates' Court.
The company has a consent to discharge effluent from a quarry it operates at 140 Mallusk Road, Newtownabbey, into a waterway, namely the Cottonmount Drain, a tributary of the Sixmile Water, which sets limits on the quality and quantity of the effluent that can be discharged.
Following complaints of pollution, 12 statutory samples were taken from the consented discharge point between 1 August 2006 and 4 January 2007.
The results showed that all of these samples failed to comply with the consent conditions in respect of suspended solids.
The discharges were found to be highly polluting in nature, containing deleterious matter and would have been potentially harmful to the fish-life in a receiving watercourse.
Notes to Editors:
- The Company was charged under Article 9 (4) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 with the offence of contravening the terms of a discharge consent issued by the Department of the Environment dated 1 December 2000.
- Discharge consents lay down conditions relating to the quality and quantity of effluent that can be discharged. The conditions are formulated to ensure that the discharge can be sustained by the receiving waterway without damage to the aquatic environment.
- For media enquiries please contact DOE Press Office 028 9054 0014 or out of office hours, contact the EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
