A LOUGHGALL business has been given a two year conditional discharge at Armagh Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to a pollution offence.
Orchard Fresh Foods Limited, of Creenagh Road, was convicted for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.
The court was told that, on December 14, 2011, a Water Quality Inspector acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) investigated a report of water pollution in a tributary of the Tall River.
The polluted waterway was heavily contaminated with fungus and, further upstream, the water was observed to be black in colour. The source of the discharge causing the pollution was determined to be the premises of Orchard Fresh Foods Limited.
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.
