US company fined over fish kill

A leading US hard-disc manufacturer has been fined £6,000 for discharging toxic chemicals into a Londonderry sewerage system.

The discharge, by Seagate Technology Media Ireland Ltd, took place on the same day that hundreds of game fish died in a major kill on the River Roe.

The company pleaded guilty to making the discharge at Limavady in July 2005.

Three weeks ago the company was fined £6,000 after pleading guilty to a related charge.

As a result of a release of pollutants into the River Roe, 140 dead salmon and 95 sea trout were recovered from the toxic water.

Seagate pleaded guilty to the charge of knowingly or otherwise discharging poisonous, noxious or polluting matter into a waterway in Limavady in contravention of the Water (NI) Order 1999, relating to events occurring on 22 July 2005.

'Good record'

Last month they admitted releasing chemicals into the local sewerage system in 2005 without providing the Department of Regional Development with sufficient notice

A defence lawyer said Seagate had no previous convictions and had an otherwise "very good record on the environment".

She described the case as "very much a one-off incident" and said the company had informed representatives from the Department of Regional Development of a change in its chemical processes on 22 June 2007, but had failed to provide written notice.

Resident Magistrate, Eamon King, however, said he regarded the incident as a very "serious matter".

"Industrial processes have an obligation to examine that anything emanating from the plant is not harmful to local wildlife," he said.

The magistrate said greater diligence in researching the background and history of the chemical involved in the fish kill could have prevented it.

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