Sewage killed my cows - farmer

One cow died and another had to be put down

A County Armagh beef farmer has said sewage from a Northern Ireland Water treatment plant is responsible for the deaths of two of his cows.

One of Raymond Douglas's herd died after sinking into sewage in the River Closet close to tourist attraction Oxford Island.

Another had to be put down by a vet after coming into contact with it.

However, NI Water has said its nearby plant was not responsible, despite the presence of considerable sewage.

"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," said a spokeswoman.

"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."

But Harry Sinclair, deputy president of the Ulster Farmers' Union, said the discharge of sewage into the River Closet was "an ongoing problem".

"We're standing here in one of the main breeding areas in Northern Ireland and look at what's coming out of the sewerage works.

It is claimed sewerage is an ongoing problem in the river

"I've never seen anything as dirty in all my life. Northern Ireland Water have a lot to answer for.

"The sewerage works is about 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."

Unless something is done to clean the river, Raymond Douglas fears he could lose more cattle.

"We have clean water up in the tank for them, but they (the cows) come down to the river no matter what happens," he said.

"So I could have the same problem tomorrow again until that river's clean."