By Ryan McAleer
April 15, 2025 at 10:07am BST
Precast manufacturer Creagh Concrete has been fined £2,500 for polluting four kilometres of a river in Co Tyrone.
The Toome-based company was convicted at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday in connection with the 2023 incident, which was linked to its Magheraglass Quarry in Kildress, six miles west of Cookstown.
The court heard that on November 24 2023, water quality inspectors, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), responded to a report of pollution impacting the Cloughfin River, a tributary of the Ballinderry River, that flows through Cookstown and into Lough Neagh.
The Upper Ballinderry River is classed as an Area of Special Scientific Interest, with the Ballinderry Rivers Trust operating a fish hatchery just a few miles from the quarry site.
The NIEA inspectors attended the location and observed that the river was running with an orange/red discolouration.
On the Magheraglass Quarry site, the inspectors discovered that machinery, operating on site, had damaged the wall of an on-site settlement pond/lagoon.
The contents of the damaged settlement pond/lagoon had flooded the quarry floor and flowed along a laneway before discharging to the Cloughfin River.
The NIEA said more than 4km of the Cloughfin River was impacted by the discharge.
In a statement, it said: “A statutory sample collected was analysed and the results indicated that the sample contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which would have been potentially harmful to aquatic life in a receiving waterway.
“High concentrations of suspended solids in a waterway can have an abrasive effect upon the gills of fish, making them susceptible to infection, and can interfere with their respiration. In addition, suspended solids can settle out in the waterway adversely impacting feeding and breeding habitat.”
The company pleaded guilty to the charge under Article 7(1)(a) of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999.
Creagh Concrete Products Ltd was fined £2,500 along with a £15 offenders levy.
by pickneyboy3000
11 comments
>Creagh Concrete Products Ltd was fined £2,500 along with a £15 offenders levy.
A joke of a fine.
Omg the impact they’ll feel from that huge fine 😱 /s
Thats fuckin scandalous
Probably the lowest possible fine for the offense.
The judge has to look like he was doing something but in reality this a fraction of their monthly profit
That’ll teach’em
Absolute state of this place
DAERA again showing they don’t need the E in their name.
No deterrent at all, that fine is a joke.
>on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or to both.
And you can absolutely guarantee that if prison was the sentence, it would be appealed to the hilt and the fine would end up £250 rather than £2500. The flaw is in the law.
NI is in the bottom 5% of the worlds most nature depleted countries/regions… Hmmm, I wonder why. It won’t head in the right direction with paltry £2,500 fines that’s for sure.
Just to keep things in perspective- their group turnover was £215 million for their financial year 2023
The point of a fine is a punishment. If the fine is less than the money they saved, it’s not a punishment, it’s a beneficial minor inconvenience #LaganConstruction
Remember kids, if the punishment for a crime is just a fine then that means it’s legal for the rich.
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