A Co Derry farmer has been given an absolute discharge for a polluting a waterway.
Michael McKenna, Brackaghreilly Road, Maghera, pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay £25 court costs at Magherafelt Magistrates Court.
The court heard that on 3 March last year, a Water Quality Inspector, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), inspected an unnamed tributary of the Black Burn at Five Mile Straight, Maghera and observed the waterway to be green in colour and a strong agricultural odour could be detected.
Approximately 1,000 metres of waterway was affected by the discharge.
The source of the polluting discharge was traced to a farm owned by McKenna.
A sample taken at the time of the incident confirmed the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.
McKenna 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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