A well known oil and coal company has been fined for a pollution incident at Belfast Harbour. Hayes Fuels, which has its headquarters in Tyrone, was taken to court following a Department of the Environment (DoE) investigation. A routine inspection last year found that "highly polluting" material was running into the harbour from a coal yard owned by the firm. A fine of £500 was imposed at Belfast Magistrates Court on Tuesday 21 August 2007, and Hayes were also ordered to pay costs totalling £272.62.
Commenting on the case, the DoE stated, "The incident was discovered on 21 September 2006 following an inspection by an officer from the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) of a coal yard at Dufferin Road, Belfast. It was found that run-off, which was badly contaminated by coal dust and solids, was escaping from the yard and entering Belfast Harbour. Analysis confirmed that the discharge was highly polluting."
Hayes had in fact been prosecuted for a similar offence in 2004, and pleaded guilty to the latest incident at the earliest opportunity. They have since stated that remedial work has been carried out to make sure such an occurrence would not happen again.
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