A prominent Ulster building company has been fined for sewage pollution originating from one of its developments. FP McCann (Developments) Ltd from Drumard Road, Magherafelt was prosecuted by the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) and received fines totalling £5,000 at Newry Magistrates' Court this month.
The court heard that on 31 May 2006, an officer of the EHS discovered serious sewage pollution escaping into a waterway at Dromore, County Down, and traced it to a nearby housing development being constructed by FP McCann. A number of the homes in the new development were occupied at the time of the incident, and the sewage pollution is believed to have been due to a broken sump pump.
The firm pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1999/662, relating to "discharging or depositing poisonous, noxious or polluting matter so that it entered a waterway" and "discharging sewage effluent to a waterway" without the consent of the EHS.
