Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of pollution by silage effluent, sand washing plant and industrial pollution have been recorded in each river of the Foyle system which flow through Northern Ireland in each of the last five 266W years; in how many cases the sources were identified; and how many prosecutions and convictions there were.
§ Mr. Carter, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 5th April 1977; Vol. 929, c. 442], gave the following information:
The information is not available in the form requested. I have, however, obtained the following statistics from the Foyle Fisheries Commission which acts as agent of the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment on pollution inspection duties in the Foyle area. The records date from 1973, the first complete year since the Water Act (NI) 1972 came into force.
Number of incidents Agricultural Industrial Number of formal warnings issued 1973 22 7 14 1974 37 17 3 1975 97 21 23 1976 126 32 16 It is not possible, without disproportionate effort, to state precisely the number of pollution sources which were identified. I am assured that most sources were traced.
Generally it is the practice of officers investigating pollution incidents to warn the polluters orally and to offer advice on solving problems which give rise to pollution. Formal warnings are issued in the more serious cases, and prosecutions are initiated only in the cases of deliberate or persistent offenders. No prosecutions have been initiated to date in respect of any of the incidents listed.