County Tyrone chicken product processors Moy Park Ltd were fined £6,000 on 24 October 2007 at Craigavon Magistrates' Court, for two water pollution offences.
These offences first came to light on 5 June 2006, when an officer from the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) traced pollution of a stream on the outskirts of Dungannon back to Moy Park's processing plant at Killyman Road. Scum and foam was found escaping from a concrete pipe at the plant into the nearby stream. Analysis of the samples taken at the time later confirmed that the discharge was polluting. The investigating officer spoke to company representatives and told them that the pollution needed to be stopped immediately.
The following day when the EHS carried out a follow-up visit, a second and separate polluting discharge from the plant was discovered. Samples were again taken and analysis showed that this discharge had been even more polluting that the previous day's pollution incident. Moy Park Ltd pleaded guilty to the offence, and this is the third time they have been fined for pollution offences since 1998.
