A County Armagh farmer claims that sewage from a Northern Ireland Water (NIW) treatment plant has killed two of his cows.
The beef farmer, Raymond Douglas, insists his cows died after coming into contact with sewage in the River Closet. However, NIW said its nearby plant was not responsible.
The company stated, "Initial investigations after the incident confirm no evidence of a discharge from the incoming sewerage system to Ballynacor wastewater treatment works into the River Closet. The wastewater treatment works itself is only capable of discharging treated effluent direct to Lough Neagh. The combined sewer overflow to the river has not discharged during the recent spell of hot weather and it only operates during times of heavy rain."
Nonetheless, Harry Sinclair, deputy president of the Ulster Farmers' Union, said sewage discharges into the river were an ongoing problem. He stated, "The sewage works is about a half a mile up the river, which is affected the whole way. It obviously is not able to cope and they can't blame it on overflow because of rain because we've had no rain for most of the month."
Mr Douglas fears he could lose more cattle, if nothing is done to clean the river.
