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NI Water fined for pollution offence

Northern Ireland Water has been fined £10,000 at Armagh Magistrates Court after it pleaded guilty to a pollution offence.

In May 2012 the water company discharged pollution from the Tandragee Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW), in County Armagh.

A water quality inspector, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, carried out investigations after dead fish were observed in a half-mile stretch of river immediately downstream of the discharge points of two pipes arising from the Tandragee WWTW.

NI Water’s regulator told Utility Week that pollution incidents at the water company were high when compared with the rest of the UK.

In addition, just 29 per cent of water bodies in Northern Ireland have been given a ‘good’ ecological status under EU rules.

The EU’s Water Framework Directive states that 59 per cent must achieve this status by 2015.