Environment and Heritage Service Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 Annual Report 1. Sewage discharge into a watercourse 2. Milk discharging into a stream 3. Leachate entering a watercourse from illegal dumping 1. 2. 3. Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 Annual Report 2 www.ehsni.gov.uk Summary This report presents statistical information relating to water pollution incidents throughout Northern Ireland investigated by, or on behalf of, the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) during 2004. EHS responded to 2207 reports of water pollution in 2004, a decrease of 13.2% from 2003. This equates to almost 6 investigations per day. EHS substantiated (confirmed) 55.6% (1227) of the incidents reported as having an impact on water quality. Pollution incidents are classified by Source (where the pollution originates), Category (the type of pollution identified), Cause (why the incident occurred) and Severity (the environmental impact of the pollution). By Source, Industry accounted for the largest number of incidents investigated by EHS (24.6%), followed by Farming (24.1%) and DRD Water Service (23.6%). This is illustrated in Figure A. By Category, Sewage (35.0%), Agriculture (24.1%) and Oil (18.5%) continued the trend from 2003, accounting for the largest proportion of pollutant types (77.6%). This is illustrated in Figure A. Figure A: Distribution of substantiated pollution incidents by Source and Category, 2004              Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 3 The main Causes of water pollution during 2004 were Equipment Failure (20.6%) and Poor Working Practice (18.0%). A total of 309 High and Medium severity incidents were investigated during 2004. This was a reduction of 9.7% compared to 2003 figures (339). Farming was responsible for the largest proportion of High and Medium severity incidents, (40.3%), which is an increase of 4.6% compared to last year’s figure. EHS surpassed their target of responding to 95% of incidents assessed as High or Medium Severity within 4 hrs, achieving a 95.8% response rate during 2004. To date, for the incidents that occurred during 2004, EHS has issued 193 warning letters, 2 Water (NI) Order Notices and submitted 77 cases to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) (formerly the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions) with a recommendation for prosecution. To date, 25 of these cases have been heard in the Magistrate’s Courts and all have resulted in a conviction. For the incidents that occurred during 2003, EHS has issued 176 warning letters, 2 Water (NI) Order Notices and submitted 122 cases to the PPS with a recommendation for prosecution. To date, 97 cases have been heard in the Magistrate’s Courts, with 94.8% resulting in a successful conviction. Of the 92 successful convictions to date for pollution incidents and consent breaches detected during 2003, the total fines so far imposed by the courts is £71,900.00. These fines ranged from £100.00 to £3,500.00, with an average fine of £807.87. Of the 122 cases taken by the Department under Articles 7 and 9 of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, the Category of Agricultural discharges accounted for 59 (48.3%) with the remaining 63 (51.7%) made up of Breach of Consent, Chemical, Non Agricultural Waste, Oil and Sewage discharges. The number of cases referred to the PPS in 2003 was the highest for a number of years and represents a 23% increase over the number of cases referred to PPS for incidents that occurred during 2002. The Water Pollution Hotline (0800 80 70 60), continues to be promoted by EHS. The number of incidents reported through this service during 2004 increased by 8.9% to 836, compared to 768 in 2003. Contents 1. Introduction 7 1.1 Background 7 1.2 Water pollution incident management 8 1.3 Structure of the WMU Regional Operations section 9 1.4 Responding to water pollution reports 13 1.5 Legislation 14 1.6 Water Pollution Hotline 15 2. Analysis Of Incidents 17 2.1 Reported Incidents 17 2.2 Regional Distribution 18 2.3 Distribution by pollution Source 19 2.4 Trend in pollution Source 21 2.5 Distribution by pollutant Category 23 2.6 Trend in pollutant Category 25 2.7 Cause of Incidents 27 2.8 Trend in incident Cause 29 2.9 Analysis of Incidents by Severity 30 2.10 Response to High and Medium Severity incidents 35 2.11 Trend in response to High and Medium Severity incidents 36 2.12 Fish Kills 37 2.13 Significance of Fish Kills 38 2.14 Trend in Fish Kills 40 2.15 Notable incidents, 2004 41 3. Pollution Prevention 43 3.1 Performance Target 43 3.2 Point Source Discharge Control 43 3.3 Diffuse Pollution Control 46 3.4 Catchment Management 46 3.5 Customer Response 47 3.6 Pollution Incidents 47 3.7 Pollution Prevention Team Contact Details 47 4 Enforcement Action 48 4.1 Introduction 48 4.2 Enforcement Policy 48 4.3 Enforcement Procedure 49 4.4 Enforcement action taken during 2004 50 4.5 Enforcement action taken during 2003 50 4.6 Trend in Enforcement Action 51 4.7 Warning Letters 52 4.8 Notices issued under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 52 4.9 Recovery of Costs 53 ANNEX A: Pollution incident assessment criteria 54 ANNEX B: Reporting water pollution incidents to EHS 55 ANNEX C: Pollution incident statistics tables 56 ANNEX D: Fines imposed under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, for pollution incidents that occurred during the period 1/1/03 - 31/12/03 (as at 22/9/05). 61 ANNEX E: The Joint Environment Agencies’ Pollution Prevention Guidelines and Advice Leaflets. 63 Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 7 1. Introduction This report presents statistical information relating to water pollution incidents throughout Northern Ireland investigated by, or on behalf of, Environment & Heritage Service (EHS), during 2004. Comparisons are made with data from earlier years to allow the description of historical trends. The data has been classified by Source (where the pollution originates), Category (the type of pollution identified), Cause (why the incident occurred) and Severity (the environmental impact of the pollution). This report also includes details of enforcement action taken under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 for pollution incidents that occurred during 2003 and 2004. 1.1 Background The Environment & Heritage Service (EHS), an Agency within the Department of the Environment (DOE), takes the lead in advising on, and implementing, the Government’s environmental policy and strategy in Northern Ireland. The overall aim of EHS is to protect and conserve the natural and built environment and to promote its appreciation for the benefit of present and future generations. Four directorates accomplish the work of EHS: Natural Heritage, Built Heritage, Environmental Protection and Corporate Services. Environmental Protection seeks to safeguard the quality of air, water and land. This involves the enforcement of legislation and a range of supporting activities to monitor and report on discharges and emissions, to establish the impacts of pollution, to set standards, and issue consent licences and authorisations. Within Environmental Protection there are five discrete units dealing with: • Water management, • Air quality and noise, • Waste management, • Industrial pollution, and • Drinking water for public and private supplies. Under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, the DOE has a duty to promote the conservation of the water resources of Northern Ireland and the cleanliness of water in waterways and underground strata. In exercising these functions, the Department is required to have regard to: • The needs of industry and agriculture; • The protection of fisheries; • The protection of public health; • The preservation of amenity; • The conservation of flora and fauna; and • The conservation of geological or physiological features of special interest, and any feature of archaeological, historical, architectural or traditional interest. It is the role of the Water Management Unit (WMU) of EHS to conserve, protect and where possible improve both the freshwater and marine aquatic environment in Northern Ireland. The WMU consists of scientific and administrative staff located in Belfast and Lisburn, and field staff based at a number of locations across Northern Ireland. The WMU protects the aquatic environment through a variety of activities including: 8 www.ehsni.gov.uk • Taking action to combat or minimise the effects of pollution; • Monitoring of water quality; • Preparing water quality management plans; • Controlling effluent discharges; • Supporting environmental research. 1.2 Water pollution incident management In exercising its duties in relation to pollution control, the EHS’s strategic objectives are as follows: • To ensure the protection of water quality and abatement of pollution in the aquatic environment. • To control effluent discharges to waterways and underground strata through the process of granting consents under Article 9 of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999. To achieve these objectives, Northern Ireland is divided into nine areas for the purposes of water pollution incident management, each area being served by regionalised field staff, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Areas for water pollution incident management 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 Crown Copyright 2005, Permit No. 50253 [...]... in pollution attributed to Industrial Sources during 2004 There was no change noted in percentage of incidents attributed to DRD Water Service during 2004 Reports of pollution attributable to DRD Water Service are initially assessed by EHS and then forwarded to DRD Water Service for action and to the EHS Water Service Regulation Team who monitor the situation and progress This team also monitors and. .. Severity of pollution incidents, 2004 Substantiated Incidents As a % of the total High 23 1.9% Medium 286 23.3% Low 918 74.8% Total 1227 100% ���� Medium Low www.ehsni.gov.uk 30 Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 Table 12 and Figure 19 detail the regional distribution and Severity of pollution incidents during 2004 Table 12 & Figure 19: Regional distribution of incidents by Severity, 2004 Severity... field staff from six service providers (4 Group Environmental Health Committees, Fisheries Conservancy Board and Loughs Agency (until May 2004) ) who undertake a wide range of duties from pollution investigation to sampling www.ehsni.gov.uk 10 Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 Group Environmental Health Staff Each of the nine water pollution management areas has an Environmental Health (Rivers)... ���� www.ehsni.gov.uk 20 Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 2.4 Trend in pollution Source Table 5 details the percentage change in pollution Source from 2003 – 2004 and this is illustrated graphically in Figure 9 It is encouraging to note a decrease in pollution from Domestic (-3.1%) and Farm (-0.4%) Sources during 2004, however Farming remains a major source of pollution Unfortunately there... �� � �� � ������������������������� www.ehsni.gov.uk Figure 4: Water Pollution Hotline promotional material 16 Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 2 Analysis Of Incidents This report presents statistical information relating to water pollution incidents throughout Northern Ireland investigated by, or on behalf of, EHS, during 2004 Comparisons are made with data from earlier years to allow... descriptors: Farm, Industry, Water Service, Domestic, Transport and Other “Other” Sources include incidents where the Source was not determined Table 3 details the distribution of pollution incidents by Source for 2004 and this is illustrated in Figure 7 Table 3 & Figure 7: Water pollution Sources, 2004 Source Substantiated Incidents As a % of the total Industry 302 24.7% Farm 296 24.1% Water Service 289 23.5%... Source www.ehsni.gov.uk 32 Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 Table 14 and Figure 21 detail the Category and Severity of incidents investigated by EHS during 2004 These indicate that agricultural effluents, such as silage and slurry were involved in the majority of High and Medium Severity incidents (128), whereas Sewage was responsible for the majority of Low Severity incidents (357) Table... 977 396 2499 2004 552 284 836 324 787 260 2207 *EHS provided a service for reporting pollution incidents prior to the launch of the Freefone Water Pollution Hotline in 1998 The Water Pollution Hotline is promoted through advertisement in telephone directories and on websites, and by business cards, posters and key fobs that are distributed at public events Figure 4 illustrates the Water Pollution Hotline... number of substantiated incidents investigated by EHS during 2004, followed by Farming (24.1%) and DRD Water Service (23.6%) 19 Table 4 details the regional distribution of pollution incidents by Source for 2004 Figure 8 illustrates how pollution Sources vary across NI due to population density and the type of industry present In highly populated regions, i.e Areas 5 and 6, DRD Water Service account for... 26 Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 2.7 Cause of Incidents EHS aims to identify the Cause of all reported pollution incidents The Cause of pollution is recorded using ten descriptors; Poor working practice, Equipment failure, Accident / Emergency, Inadequate equipment, Negligence, Deliberate dumping, Weather, Breach of Consent, Other and Unknown Table 9 details the distribution of pollution . Environment and Heritage Service Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 Annual Report 1. Sewage discharge into a watercourse 2              Water Pollution Incidents and Enforcement 2004 3 The main Causes of water pollution during 2004 were Equipment Failure (20.6%) and Poor Working