NORTHERN Ireland Water Ltd has been fined £5,000 plus court costs of £46 and analytical costs of £155, at Antrim Magistrates Court, for pollution offences.
NIW, Northland House, 3 Frederick Street, Belfast, pleaded guilty to discharging polluting matter so that it entered a waterway, the Crumlin River, which is a tributary of Lough Neagh.
On April 1 2007 an Inspector, acting on behalf of Environment
and Heritage Service, investigated a pollution incident affecting the Crumlin River. He traced the polluting discharge to Crumlin Terminal Sewage Pumping Station where he found there was a discharge of untreated sewage overflowing to the river and took statutory samples.
In a statement, released after the court hearing, Northern Ireland Water said it views the protection of the environment as one of its main priorities and takes extremely seriously any issue of pollution.
“The incident at Crumlin Sewerage Pumping Station on April 1 2007 was due to a mechanical failure of the pumps and a lack of capacity in the alarm system. It happened within hours of NI Water taking over responsibility for water and sewerage services from Water Service,” the statement said.
It was added: “The incident was a result of the long term underinvestment in water and wastewater infrastructure across Northern Ireland. Each working day NI Water is investing £1million to bring water and waste water services up to a high standard across Northern Ireland. We are confident that as our investment programme continues such incidents will become less common.”
NI Water said it was on site within one hour of receiving the call and reacted quickly to stop the discharge to river. No fish were killed and there was no lasting damage and NI Water cooperated fully with the Environment and Heritage Service.
“Following this incident, NI Water is undertaking a major programme to ensure that high level alarms are installed and activated in all sewage pumping stations that need them. This will involve an investment of over £700,000 over the next three years,” the statement said.
It added: “NI Water reiterates that it views the protection of the environment as a major priority. We are the only public body in Northern Ireland to have a full environmental management system with ISO 14001 status, an international standardization award.”
The full article contains 388 words and appears in Antrim Times newspaper.
