Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prosecutions have been brought in the Foyle area in Northern Ireland and in the rest of Northern Ireland during the past two years for the discharge of effluent which did not meet the legal limits; and what was the prosecuting authority.
§ Mr. CarterThere is no uniform statutory emission standard for the discharge 403W of effluent to waterways. Under the Water Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 standards for individual discharges relate to the nature of the receiving waterway and the use to which it is put. Sewage and water treatment works are designed and operated in such a way that any effluent discharged conforms to Royal Commission standards.
In relation to the discharge of effluent made with the consent of the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment, one prosecution has been taken in the Foyle area for breach of consent conditions and proceedings have been taken in three cases outside the Foyle area during the past two years. Proceedings in respect of discharges causing pollution, or made without the consent of the Department, have been taken in 35 cases, of which one was in the Foyle area during the same period. The prosecutions were instituted by the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions complaints have been made during the past two years in regard to effluent from works owned by the Department of the Environment in the area of the Foyle system in Northern Ireland and in the rest of Northern Ireland; and how many of the occasions the effluent was not within the legal limits.
§ Mr. CarterSix written complaints have been made in the past two years relating to the discharge of effluent from sewage disposal or water treatment works belonging to the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment in the River Foyle system. Information relating to the rest of Northern Ireland is not readily available and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.