Post by Davy Telford on Dec 19, 2011 13:20:33 GMT
Here are the minutes from the meeting at Stormont
I have also attached them as a PDF file at the bottom of this page if you want a copy.
18 OCTOBER 2011 NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY
ADJOURNMENT
Sixmilewater River: Pollution
Mr Deputy Speaker: I remind Members that the proposer of the Adjournment topic will have up to 15 minutes in which to speak. The Minister will have 10 minutes to respond, and all other Members who are called to speak will have approximately six minutes.
Mr Kinahan: I have never seen a room clear so quickly.
At the beginning of the debate, I declare two interests. First, I own land next door to the Sixmilewater and, indeed, have enjoyed walking along its edges for most of my life, hence my passion for what I am speaking about. Secondly, I am Danny Kennedy’s Assembly Private Secretary (APS), and certain matters on which I will speak briefly will touch on his role as Minister for Regional Development.
I will point out the main polluters of the Sixmilewater and, I hope, edge us towards zero tolerance of all pollution on rivers. I want today’s debate to be used as an example for all rivers, whether that be the Sixmilewater, the Blackwater, the Bush, the Faughan or any other river. We have to ensure that we look after all our rivers, which are the lifeblood of our beautiful country. Therefore, I will call for certain actions as I go through my speech and for education all the way through everything that we do so that the public and everyone who is involved learn how to look after their rivers better.
The Sixmilewater’s Irish name is Abhainn na bhFiodh, and although I am not very good at Irish, I think that I have pronounced it correctly. It is a rather lovely name and is also the name of one of the holes on the golf course at the Hilton Templepatrick Hotel. It was originally called the Ollar and changed its name to the Sixmilewater in line with soldiers from Carrickfergus moving six miles to a fort that was on the river. The river is 20 miles long and runs through Ballynure, Ballyclare, Doagh, Parkgate, Templepatrick, Dunadry and Antrim. Of course, do not forget all the farms and the other land that it runs through. It is the key waterway in the South Antrim constituency.
It would not be in the good order that it should be in if it were not for the fishermen, the Antrim and District Angling Association and many others who have been managing it since the 1950s. I will go into that in more detail later. They have been managing it phenomenally well, considering that polluters and others have been doing their best to destroy it.
Pollution is something that we all forget about. The general public need to be wary of what they are throwing away and how they throw it away, whether that be litter being washed into the rivers or the unmentionables that people put into their septic tanks and elsewhere. That all builds up and causes the breaks that often lead to pollution. With that go the septic tanks themselves. Last night, I heard that there are 70,000 septic tanks in County Down alone. If that figure is taken throughout Northern Ireland, there is a phenomenal mass of septic tanks, all of which put water into our rivers. One would hope that that water is always treated, but it is not. We need to educate the public and look at our planning processes and at how we enforce the use of septic tanks and try to get away from their overuse.
I will move on to the issue of farming, and I stress that I am not picking on farmers. Sadly, I was not in the Chamber when the Minister of the Environment answered the question for urgent oral answer on slurry spreading. I am pleased to see him here for the debate, but we should probably have four different Ministers here as four different Departments are involved with rivers. Slurry being spread on the ground and going into the rivers is not the only problem. There is also the clearing of habitat by farmers and the damage done by cattle. We need to educate the farming world and, of course, learn from it, as it has many good ways to do things.
There is also the problem of illegal activities at the sides of rivers. For example, last year, some cat litter was thrown into the Sixmilewater, and it took five days to remove it. It had been used for cleaning fuel, and because it was toxic and the council did not know where the farm was even though there was a large building 200 yards away that looked like a farm building, it took five days to clear. There is a mass of illegal ways to pollute our rivers.
Planning and development can pollute rivers in many different ways. A simple planning site for two buildings needs to be enforced properly to make sure that the buildings are not moved and allowed to be built by the river. In many cases, that has not happened or we have put too much scale into the building with too much run-off so that the waters pour quickly into rivers and create flooding at a much earlier stage. Again, that does much damage to the rivers and brings with it all the pollution. There is also an issue while the buildings are being put up; for example, heavy rain may wash silt and all the other things that come from building sites into rivers. We have to ensure that we have good enforcement at all times, not just examples of it here and there. Enforcement needs to be checked at every possible opportunity.
4.45 pm
From the sports side, the spraying of weeds has an impact. In one case, such spraying all the way alongside the river has killed all the weeds. Spraying weeds stops the plants binding, and, in time, the sides of the banks will collapse. So, you have to be very careful there. Again, combating that comes down to education.
Moving again to south Antrim, we should look at the car washes there. Euro car wash, for example, is one of many car wash providers. It is legal, because it has a permit, but we need to check why we are giving permits and whether the water from those car washes is going into the rivers. There are many more car washes, but we must look at enforcing the regulations that deal with them. I ask people to follow my example and just keep a good dirty car: it is much better that way, and it saves a lot of pollution going into the rivers.
The building and gritting of roads contribute to pollution. We should look at the bad weather that we had last year and think of the amount of grit that was placed on all the roads. That grit then washed into our ditches and went from the ditches into our rivers. I do not think that we think along those lines at all.
Then there are the various wastewater treatment plants in Northern Ireland. There is one in particular near Ballyclare. Whenever that plant overflows in times of flooding, the sewage goes into the river and pollutes. It is a fact that that happens, and the Department for Regional Development (DRD) will have to take that on board. In Scotland last week, we met representatives of Scottish Water, which has exactly the same problem. Such wastewater treatment plants are part of the system for treating our water, but we must find a way as quickly as we can to stop the treatment works that overflow and flood into rivers when, typically, we have more rain than we expect.
The worst polluter of all on the Sixmilewater was industry. We do not know who was responsible for the pollutions, but we still want to know who was involved, and we would still like to see prosecutions. Some 10,000 fish were killed. If you think that through, you will realise that the grubs and the invertebrates in the river were killed and cleared away and the fish and the birds had gone. For example, the kingfisher, which would normally be up and down the river and which the Hilton Hotel has as its logo, has not been back since, even though there are kingfishers elsewhere. If we think about the food chain, there are humans at the end of it, so we have to be very careful.
Those are your polluters, and that was a fairly good gallop through all the different types of pollution. However, rather than be negative all the time, I would like to thank many people. I already touched on the anglers. Last night, I had the pleasure of listening to the Ballinderry trust showing how rivers can be managed better. I hope that the Minister will go away and find out how Ballinderry trust and the excellent Six Mile Water Trust are planning to do things, as there is a mass of good volunteers with expertise who, with a little bit more training, can help us to enforce and monitor our rivers.
There are also excellent staff in all the different agencies. There are probably too many agencies involved at the same time. I would hate to go through a list of thanks without mentioning Alan Kirkpatrick, who we lost a few years ago. He who was one of those passionate people who would ring you up at midnight if he found something on a river. There was no getting out of joining him to see the pollution.
So, we are asking for joined-up government. We want to see the four Departments working closely together. I asked each of the Departments whether they were planning to pull all the agencies together under one agency or whether they would share responsibility, and all of them indicated that they would not be doing so in the near future.
We need independent sampling. Last night, we heard of an excellent initiative called the Anglers Monitoring Initiative, which has 22 people monitoring 28 sites on the Ballinderry river. We want to see the same happening all the way along the Sixmilewater and, of course, on other rivers.
We also should know all the people who discharge into rivers — I think that some 38 discharge into the Sixmilewater — and all the owners and others who may be discharging into a river. If we know who they are, using the same example of the cat litter, we can immediately go to them and get permission to take whatever action is needed. We need strong and quick enforcement. We need good communication. We have an excellent hotline but it could work that much better. What I am asking for today is joined-up Government, independent sampling and training, and even maybe more bailiffs. Let us really pull together and move forward.
On being made Chairman of the Audit Committee, the most exciting Committee here, I was slightly surprised to find something pertinent to the Sixmilewater. When visiting the Audit Office in Belfast, however, they said that they monitor the Chamber, the questions and concerns of Members and then choose various items to look into and report on. They mentioned the ‘Control of River Pollution in Northern Ireland’, a report of 30 April 1998 with 21 recommendations. I would lay a bet that those are the same recommendations some 13 years later.
I call on the Assembly and all of us here to push to make sure that documents that do exist have all the right recommendations, come off the shelves and are used because there we have exactly what we should be doing and exactly what I am asking for today. I am very pleased to see so many of you here supporting this matter, and I look forward to seeing things get much better on pollution.
Mr T Clarke: My colleague from South Antrim referred to Alan Kirkpatrick. In my time on Antrim Borough Council — I should declare an interest as a member of Antrim Borough Council — I had the good fortune to meet Alan when he attended the council’s countryside recreation committee. What Danny said about Alan is spot on. Alan had a passion.
I suppose I am in the unfortunate position in that I do not know many other fishermen, and maybe that is my own fault; maybe I have not familiarised myself with them. Sorry, I should not say fishermen. I think there are maybe women as well because I note that we have men and women in the Public Gallery. So, I suppose it is not a sport that is primarily for just men; it is open to women also, so I would like to put that on the record, just for political correctness.
What Danny outlined is not a new problem or unique to the Sixmilewater. Unfortunately, it is familiar on many rivers across Northern Ireland. However, I am not trying to take anything away from the emphasis on the Sixmilewater. I am glad that the Minister of the Environment has come today to speak about that. I suppose we could also have had the Ministers with responsibility for roads and agriculture. We are not going to pick on the Minister today, and I hope that he does not feel that we are going to pick on him.
One issue concerns me greatly, and Danny did not focus on it with regard to pollution on the Sixmilewater. Yesterday’s heavy rain was an example, and hopefully that was the most severe such event we will have this year and there will not be a repeat of 2008. However, there have been a number of planning applications close to the river. I am thinking primarily more at the Antrim end, where there is a concentration of houses. Danny spoke about run-off from roads and septic tanks. However, there is more than that. We have had a concentration of new developments that have placed extreme pressures on rivers and their flows, and I know from conversations that I had with the late Alan Kirkpatrick that he was very much against that. I am sure that if I spoke to most fishermen and women today, they would have the same concerns.
There have been incidents, going back to 2008, with oil tanks floating about and running back to the rivers. We also have raw sewage. Although we can criticise the Minister about development and how to bring forward development proposals, I would criticise proposals that have allowed houses to be built on flood plains and close to river banks.
I am thinking of the Seven Mile Straight in the Antrim area and houses closer to the Dublin Road in Antrim, which all suffered in 2008. I know that this debate is not about flooding, but a consequence of the flooding was a negative impact on the river. I ask the Minister to take cognisance of that and feed down to his Department that we need to take more care and caution with planning applications and rivers.
Danny touched on many other aspects, including roads, and referred to today’s question about the slurry ban. A farmer said to me last week — I stand to be corrected — that 24 tons of urea are used at the International Airport every day that there is frost. That all goes to our watercourse. Danny touched on salting, and it is OK to touch on all the things that are happening and their effect. I am not trying to put down the debate but, unfortunately, these debates have no teeth. What other method have we come up with for gritting roads? Rivers are important to the people who use them for all sorts of activity, not just fishermen but people who engage in other leisure pursuits. They do not want them to be polluted, and neither do I. However, it is OK to say that we can be careful about how we grit the roads, but how else do we do that? We need to come up with more imaginative ideas on what products we use so that we do not cause river pollution. I do not think that that debate has ever taken place.
Danny touched on flooding, and there is also the issue of oil tanks. If we drive around the Province, and, again, it is not unique to Sixmilewater, we see spills of oil and petrol from vehicles. All of that goes into the rivers. Today, it is OK to have tongue-in-cheek conversations and give out tea and sympathy because that might sound right to people sitting in the Public Gallery. However, they might be more interested in hearing what we will do to tackle pollution rather than about the issues and problems. They might prefer to hear what we, as a Government, can do in Northern Ireland to address pollution as a whole.
I support Danny’s topic for debate, but I am a wee bit disappointed because I sometimes feel that we talk for the sake of talking. If I had an opportunity to speak to people upstairs, I am sure that they would say that they want to know what we will do about pollution and how we will prevent it in the future. However, I support the emphasis of the debate, and I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say and whether he is prepared to think outside the box about what we can do differently to prevent some instances of pollution, not only in Sixmilewater but in all rivers across the Province.
Mr McLaughlin: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I apologise in advance: other Assembly business ran on a bit, and I have a 5.00 pm meeting with the Minister of Education. I want to put on record my appreciation of my colleague’s efforts in securing the debate, notwithstanding Trevor’s valid point about the impact of these discussions.
Now that we have set out the number of occasions on which this particular watercourse has been poisoned, we must reflect that the same thing happens right across the region. At times, Departments have been found to be culpable as well as private individuals. I do not wish to repeat what has been said — it has been presented perfectly well. I apologise to the Minister that I will not be here to hear his response, but I hope that he might give some consideration to publishing a list of those who, after investigation, are found to be responsible. That list need not go into the detail of sanctions that could be applied from time to time. However, if people are aware of who is responsible, they can make judgements, particularly if that responsibility extends across the spectrum from Departments and their agencies to private enterprise, private individuals or farmers.
Water is a precious resource, and waterways are immensely important to our economy, tourist industry and leisure industry. Often, the voluntary efforts made in conjunction with statutory support are completely undermined. We hear and read about fish kills in the tens of thousands, which must be heartbreaking for those who had made the effort to restock and nurture their fish. So I strongly endorse the comments made by Trevor and Danny.
Raising public consciousness would be best served if people could read for themselves who was responsible for the pollution. It is more than a trend: it is almost a tradition that rivers are treated in a cavalier fashion. We must challenge that. Let us start with a consciousness exercise, draw attention to the repeat offenders and ensure that the sanctions fit the crime, because very often they do not.
5.00 pm
Mr Ford: I am afraid that I will have to emulate Mitchel McLaughlin by giving my apologies, as I shall also be leaving before the debate is over. However, I appreciate the opportunity to take part. I thank Danny for having secured the debate. It may be an issue of particular concern to those of us who represent South Antrim, but it is also one that highlights more general issues about the way in which we manage watercourses in general.
A generation ago, the Sixmilewater was, effectively, a river flowing through an almost totally rural area. Even the Ballymartin tributary was something much the same. There was a limited amount of housing and industry around Ballyclare and, until you got to below Templepatrick, it was almost all pristine and rural. Now, the increasing growth of housing and industry in Ballyclare and the significant growth of industry around Mallusk have meant that we have seen a significant increase in pollution incidents almost annually. Serious fish kills are occurring due to carelessness or criminal activity by people who are not concerned about what they are doing and allow waste to be dumped into the rivers or who are doing it quite deliberately. Although there are ongoing problems around rural issues involving the potential for herbicides, pesticides or fertiliser run-off that have some effect on the river, there is absolutely no doubt that the most serious effects have been those associated with industrial development and the pollution of various poisons that have ended up in the waterways.
In June 2009, an answer to a question for written answer to the Department of the Environment stated that there had been a 20% reduction in the number of confirmed water-pollution incidents between 2000 and 2008. That was fine as regards a general trend. However, we continue to see major episodes, including one in January this year, which add to the background history. Whatever may be happening to make some general improvements, far too many serious incidents are still happening. Those serious incidents undermine the good work being done by a number of agencies, in particular, local angling clubs and the work being done together by the Six Mile Water Trust and the two councils in Antrim and Newtownabbey and in a variety of other local instances.
I remember attending a public meeting in the Antrim Forum about three years ago when there had been a further pollution incident, and I have no doubt that some Members in the Chamber were also present. A variety of proposals were put forward by anglers, and people made various suggestions. However, it seemed that we did not have a joined-up way of approaching the needs of the Sixmilewater. The fact that the trust is now in operation, and Danny gave a report on what happened last night, at least shows that we are starting to make things move particularly well.
However, because of the different agencies responsible, I am not sure that we have really got to grips with what is happening around Mallusk. I am aware of the good work that is being sought. A suggestion put to me by a local angler was that we should look at some sort of settlement pond so that run-off from Mallusk would not go straight into the Ballymartin but would be caught, potentially diluted, and potentially even extracted before it could get into the waterway. It seems that the river is extremely vulnerable when the water level is low; in particular, the Ballymartin water and then from Templepatrick on down the Sixmilewater. However, it is not just that. There is also the issue of what we are seeing around Ballyclare with the growth in its development, and there are problems around the main part of the Sixmilewater because of that.
I noted the reference made to the Ballinderry trust, and that is a useful example that can be quoted. However, we also have to recognise that, in some senses — I am not suggesting that life is completely easy for Ballinderry — there is a relatively easy position there, a rural area with relatively little urbanisation and industry. Nevertheless, as I said, the generation change for the Sixmilewater has meant that all those problems have occurred.
I certainly welcome the fact that the Environment Agency has been involved in a lot of pollution prevention inspections around Mallusk. There has clearly been an effort to engage, but I am not sure whether we have really cracked it. There is more work to be done.
There are also issues such as the waste water treatment works in Ballyclare. There is a new sewerage works in the area, but there are already concerns about its capacity. There are also issues about the continuing development around Ballyclare, the new housing and industry and the fact that, during the bad weather last December, a significant number of tanker-loads of waste water sludge had to be carted out of a site. All those things mean that there are issues that could add to the pollution.
We have seen the benefits of a partnership approach. I pay tribute to all the volunteers who played a part in it, and I add my references to the work and commitment that was initially shown by Alan Kirkpatrick. However, much more needs to be done to build up partnership and for agencies to work together.
The Minister’s work on re-engaging on the issue of an independent environmental protection agency also needs to be dealt with. Realistically, we could have expected to see the Ministers for Agriculture and Rural Development, Regional Development and, given the issues around Mallusk, possibly Enterprise, Trade and Investment sitting here alongside the Minister of the Environment. That is a measure of the lack of a joined-up position among our public agencies, and an independent environmental protection agency would be one way to start to address the problem in a more joined-up fashion than we have so far seen.
Mr Girvan: I congratulate Danny for securing the debate this evening. I declare an interest as having a family involvement in the ownership of land along the banks of the Sixmilewater and also on the lower Ballyboley tributary.
It is important to take Members’ comments on board, such as the pollution to which David Ford referred. In 2008, there was a major incident. Some form of chemical made its way into the Ballymartin river and wiped out all habitat, invertebrate and fish life from there to the entry into Lough Neagh. It was important to get a sample at an early opportunity to identify where the incident had originated. Unfortunately, for one reason or another — I will reserve judgement on that matter — the sample never seemed to make its way through to enable the authorities to find out who the culprit was on that occasion. I believe that there was a smoking gun, but insufficient evidence was gathered early enough.
That has exercised a number of people who have an interest in the issue. We attended many meetings with the Six Mile Water Trust and discussed how to conduct sampling that will be acceptable to the Department. We also discussed how to gather statistical data that can be used evidentially to identify a timeline as to when pollution has occurred in an area of water. A move needs to be made to allow some type of local bailiff, because the custodian of the Sixmilewater is not the Environment Agency. None of the people who identified the incidents have been government officials but people who have a vested interest in what is going on in the river. They have, primarily, been anglers.
I go back to an incident that took place on the Sixmilewater in January 2010. There was a problem, and all the indications were that it came from the sewage treatment works on the Templepatrick Road in Ballyclare, because everything from that point to the Doagh bridge was wiped out.
The only godsend was that there was a fairly high water level in the river and the pollution was well diluted. However, it created a problem, and there was a large fish kill along that stretch of river. If local people had been given the opportunity to identify the pollution and to take water samples, the problem could have been identified before the Department came on site.
Mention was made of discharges and consents to discharge, and Danny mentioned the 70,000 non-designated discharges into water courses in County Down. If you multiplied that to include County Antrim, the Sixmilewater and its catchment area, which is some 20 miles long, that number would be much higher. If a property is built beside a river, the overflow of its septic tank will flow directly into it without passing through filter beds or reed beds. Owners feel that it is safe to allow their septic tanks to overflow as it does not create a problem for them; their waste goes into the river, which takes it away.
Mr T Clarke: Although I referred in my contribution to things that cannot be done, something that can be done, and I hope that the Minister takes this on board, is that proper measures should be put in place to prevent overflows from septic tanks when consents are applied for.
Mr Deputy Speaker: The Member has an extra minute.
Mr Girvan: Thank you. There is a major problem in that area, and overflows from septic tanks are not being checked properly. People do not use their septic tanks correctly: we know about bleaches and how they destroy the balance in septic tank, and, if they are used, bleaches will also make their way into rivers. The policing of septic tanks needs to be looked at.
I am not going to let the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) off the hook, because it has a key role in ensuring that issues are properly policed. However, it is not the only agency involved, and other government agencies seem to have turned a blind eye despite having control. For example, the Fisheries Conservancy Board plays a role in Lough Neagh into which the Sixmilewater runs, yet it has turned a blind eye to certain activities. However, those days are gone, and we must ensure that the board is called to account for its actions.
It is important that we support those with an interest in ensuring that we retain something that is not just an asset but which could also be a great tourist attraction. Angling is one of the most common sports; there are probably more people involved in it than in football or other sports. It is vital that, instead of allowing our rivers to turn into open sewers, we make use of them and clean them up. We must also ensure that, from an agricultural point of view, farmers, who are also custodians of the rivers, do not farm right up to riverbanks. They must leave a space so that they do not pollute the water with slurry spread and everything else and allow such pollution to filter through the ground. Those points all need to be brought forward.
It is good that we are having the debate this evening, but it is only one way of introducing the issue. Other major players such as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of the Environment (DOE) and DRD must also be brought on board.
5.15 pm
Ms Lewis: I thank my colleague Danny Kinahan for raising the issue in the House this evening. I welcome the opportunity to speak on an issue of great concern to many in the South Antrim constituency: the pollution of the Sixmilewater. I declare an interest as a member of Antrim Borough Council.
We were all disappointed to hear about the latest pollution incident in the river, which was not an isolated episode. Indeed, such incidents are, sadly, regular occurrences. Pollution has done huge damage to the river and has been responsible for thousands of dead fish over the past few years. That is a terrible loss for the natural life of the river. It is also a blow to those who have worked so hard to replenish fish stocks in the river and who have effectively sought grants and lottery funds to help them with their work. In particular, I think of the work of the Antrim and District Angling Association, and it is right that the Assembly recognises the work that its members have done in trying to keep the river free from pollution.
However, it is important to note that this is not just an environmental problem or one that just affects those directly involved in fishing; it is also an economic problem. Through fishing and angling, the river provides economic benefit for the area. As one who wants to see the tourism potential of the constituency enhanced, I am greatly disappointed when I hear that the river cannot be used by anglers due to such pollution incidents. Often, it has only just recovered from one incident of pollution when another occurs, and that does serious and prolonged damage to the river’s reputation. People are put off from coming to fish due to those incidents, and it affects not only the angling industry but the wider local economy. The extra benefits that visitors bring could be permanently lost to the area, and that should not be allowed to continue.
As the Sixmilewater flows directly into Lough Neagh, there is also the worry of wider implications and the possibility of an industrial discharge having a major impact on Lough Neagh itself. Lough Neagh touches five of the six counties of Northern Ireland; it is the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles, and the area around it is one of the most important bird habitats in western Europe. The lough provides a unique and valuable natural resource, offering a very productive ecosystem that supports thousands of wildfowl and a large scale eel-fishing industry. If pollution on that scale should occur, the damage would be catastrophic.
Obviously, we all want to see zero pollution in the Sixmilewater and, though there has been a reduction in the numbers of high, medium and low severity incidents over the past five years, the number remains at an unacceptable level. There were 63 incidents in 2006 and 48 in 2010. The trend is encouraging, but that is not good enough. I note that NI Water has been responsible for two incidents that led to prosecution and conviction since 2007; one at Massereene, the other at Clotworthy. That should be of great concern to us, and I look forward to receiving assurances from the Minister for Regional Development that NI Water has taken steps to ensure that there will be no repetition.
The Assembly, the DOE and the NIEA need to do two things to ensure that we can continue to reduce the number of pollution incidents in the Sixmilewater. The first involves education; the second, serious punishment for those convicted. We need to let people know the dangers that pollution causes and the consequences of their actions. They need to know how they can prevent it from happening and the steps that they can take. However, education alone is not enough. In spite of all the advice and information that we can give to people, there will be those who choose to ignore it. People who offend persistently need to be prosecuted and fined heavily on conviction. More often than not, business or industry is at fault, and I am concerned that the fines are at a level insufficient to deter. The rest of us are left to count the cost, both in economic and environmental terms.
If we are serious about taking those actions, it will go a long way towards freeing the river from pollution, sending a message to the polluters and ensuring that the Sixmilewater can be enjoyed by us and by generations to come.
Mr Agnew: I thank Danny for bringing forward the motion. I chose to speak in the debate although the Sixmilewater river is not in my constituency. In 2008, when there was the major fish kill — 35,000 fish were killed by pollution — Brian Wilson hosted the anglers who came to the Long Gallery in Stormont and called for an independent environmental protection agency.
As has been pointed out, this is not something that affects only the Sixmilewater, though that seems to be where a significant number of such incidents take place. When I was working for Brian, I remember that a major fish kill occurred in the River Quoile. I am sure that Members check the BBC news website regularly, and it seems that every few months there is another fish kill, some more significant than others. Unfortunately, we do not hear about prosecutions subsequent to those news stories. I would like to make the following point today: clearly, what we are doing is not sufficient. Prosecutions are not sufficient in number or in severity.
At the time of the March 2008 fish kill, my colleague Brian Wilson called for an independent review of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency’s investigative capabilities. Ultimately, I do not think that that body, as it is currently constituted, can be the solution to this problem. To highlight the crux of the problem: in 2011 to date, there have been 89 industrial discharges and 12 Northern Ireland Water asset discharges — legal pollution of the Sixmilewater river. The NIEA grants those consents and is then required to go and investigate pollution when there is a kill.
Mr Frew: Some of those issues would have been part of what was a planning application in relation to industrial procedures that were going on. The NIEA is a consultee in relation to those applications, and it did not even highlight any concerns when it was consulted on that. The particular one that I am talking about concerns a car wash.
Mr Agnew: I thank the Member for making that point because I was not aware of it. However, it highlights the issue: we have a body that on the one hand grants permission to pollute while on the other investigates pollution. That does not sit comfortably with me.
I back up David Ford’s call. We need an independent environmental protection agency that will have environmental protection at its core, based on the “polluter pays” principle. We need restoration orders, so that people found guilty of illegal pollution are required to restore rivers as much as possible — it cannot always be done entirely with our natural environment — to how they were before a pollution incident. We need profit orders and administrative penalties. As I said, the level of fine does not reflect the level of damage caused. To give an example: there were 292 incidents of pollution in the Sixmilewater between 2003 and 2008, for which fines worth £4,350 were issued. Across so many incidents, £4,350 in fines is clearly not acting as a deterrent.
Other Members have pointed out the benefits of our natural environment to our economy. Angling contributes an estimated £10 million annually to the Northern Ireland economy. Tourism is currently 1•9% of our GDP, but, as a member of the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee, I know that the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has significant plans to increase our tourism revenue, and our natural environment is a vital part of that strategy. Also, as was mentioned, there is the matter of our water security. With winter coming, we are aware of issues around our water infrastructure. The more that we pollute our water, the more pressure we put on that infrastructure.
I thank the Minister and welcome him because he has opened up a conversation on the issue of an independent environmental protection agency. It is time that we agreed in principle to have one and started a debate on what that protection agency should look like. I note that three DUP Members are here to highlight those issues. I hope that they will see, through the debate, the importance of environmental protection and take that back to their party, which was the main objector when we originally called for an independent protection agency.
Mr T Clarke: Does the Member accept that, whether the agency is independent or government-run, if it is run correctly it could do the same job or deliver the same outcomes? We need a Northern Ireland Environment Agency that does its job better as opposed to introducing an independent agency. There is no reason why our own in-house agency, if it does its job correctly, cannot deliver the same outcomes.
Mr Deputy Speaker: The Member has an extra minute.
Mr Agnew: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.
I thank the Member for his intervention. However, when the then Minister, Arlene Foster, announced the new Northern Ireland Environment Agency, we were told that it would do the job better than the previous Environment and Heritage Service. The continuing problems with the Sixmilewater are an example of what I believe is the failure in how that body is constituted. It cannot, on the one hand, give out licences to discharge and, on the other hand, seek to investigate instances of pollution. If it finds that its discharge consents are responsible for fish kills —
Mr Deputy Speaker: Will the Member draw his remarks to a close, please?
Mr Agnew: — it might not seek to prosecute or even admit to those results.
I thank Mr Kinahan for bringing the issue to the House, and I look forward to the Minister’s response.
Mr Attwood (The Minister of the Environment): I thank all Members who contributed to the debate. I know that other Members wished to contribute but could not do so because of other business. We must all acknowledge Danny Kinahan’s speech and his securing of an Adjournment debate on the topic. His personal interest in that part of the North of Ireland, which he clearly values and cherishes, was very much reflected in the eloquence, structure and content of his speech.
As other Members indicated, what everybody has said over the past hour forms the basis of proposals for best practice that could apply to any stretch of river. That is the power and importance of debates such as this. If you extract and then interrogate the content of the debate, you should be able to develop a charter of best practice that applies to the Sixmilewater and any other river with similar problems. That is what I intend to do. I will not offer, in the words of Mr Clarke, “tea and sympathy”, but I will try to think outside the box. A spotlight must be shone on DOE so that no stone is left unturned in finding out what work might be forthcoming from across its functions, and I will apply the same rigour to addressing this issue.
Members know that, to try to interrogate issues in the Department that I thought needed to be addressed, and which people told me needed to be addressed, I ran a series of gatherings over the summer months on issues such as beach and water quality, planning, urban planning, road traffic, crime and built heritage. I was trying to identify what could reasonably be done in the short term and more strategically through policy and legislation. I will apply the same discipline to this issue, and Danny Kinahan’s concluding remarks are the reason why I will do so. He outlined a number of principles that should govern the policy and approach of government to the problems faced by Sixmilewater and similar river systems. What were some of those principles that quite a number of other Members touched on during the debate?
First, given that I represent the Government here but should be speaking on behalf of four Departments, Mr Kinahan asked whether it was time to consider how we could bring together, in a much more joined-up or perhaps more integrated way, all the functions of government that impact on rivers, including Sixmilewater. We have to get our heads round that, because I intend to introduce a marine Bill in the near future. I will be asking people to endorse the concept of a marine management organisation that gathers in one place all the functions of government in an effort to maximise marine management. Is the same principle not applicable to the management of our river systems, including Sixmilewater?
Secondly, he asked whether it was time to start thinking about an independent environment agency. In a matter of days, we might have no alternative but to more actively consider that. A decision from the European Court is forthcoming on environmental assessments in the North and whether our processes are seen to be and, in fact, are independent and rigorous enough to satisfy European standards on environmental testing. That might be the impetus for us to consider more generally what I tried to accelerate over the summer, namely a testing of the concept that an independent environment agency is the best model and mechanism to deal with issues of water management, including those around Sixmilewater.
I agree with the argument that has been made that, independent of what structures there are, rigour of approach when it comes to penalties and criminal actions in respect of rivers is the front line in ensuring that river management and water quality is maintained. I will not go into details now. However, across the scope of enforcement in the Department, be it on the planning side, environment side or the crime unit, I have instructed officials to be robust in pursuing polluters, especially the most severe polluters, in all of that.
5.30 pm
I want to acknowledge, as I have done before, that, in his opening speech at the beginning of term on 5 September and in private correspondence with me, Sir Declan Morgan, the Lord Chief Justice, has made the issue of environmental crime a priority going forward. Furthermore, the Judicial Studies Board is looking at the issue and working with the judiciary in an effort to ensure that the court system’s penalties and practices on environmental crime are — as I see it, although it is for Sir Declan Morgan to say — more demanding and rigorous in order to ensure that the polluters of the Sixmilewater, tyre depots or any other aspect of the life and quality of the North are dealt with robustly.
One thing that I will make a commitment about is that the planning system produced a schedule of all cases that went before the courts in recent years. That has been forwarded to the Judicial Studies Board. Last week, at the reconvened built heritage crime summit at Conway Mill on the Falls Road, I asked officials to do the same in respect of built heritage crime. We need to do the same in respect of issues that have been identified here so that we pass over to the judiciary the profile and outcome of all cases in a way that might assist it to determine whether all is being done on the criminal justice or court side that should be done. I want to acknowledge all of that.
Obviously, in the little time that I have left, I want to comment on the particular circumstances of the Sixmilewater in respect of criminal prosecutions. People are absolutely right that there were two severe penalties in 2008. In my briefing, Mr Agnew, I was not given the figure of 38,000 fish killed.
Mr Agnew: It was 35,000.
Mr Attwood: The figure is 35,000. The system tells me every time that there is a fish kill in any river in the North of Ireland, but I was not given that figure. The scale of that worries me. That is why, in respect of both cases — one, which was dismissed in court, arising from prosecution and the other, which was touched upon by Mr Girvan, in which the evidence was not beyond a reasonable doubt — that is the advice that I have been given. However, given what Mr Agnew has said and other information that has been made available to me in the past hour and a half, I will go off and interrogate that further to examine the quality of that judgement; whether it was the judgement of the NIEA or the Public Prosecution Service with regard to the threshold.
I confirm that, in respect of the January 2011 incident, which is more current, I have been advised that the Department is following “a definite line of inquiry”. Given that it is important that I do not be seen to comment on due process and ongoing investigations, I will leave it at that. However, in that narrative on severe and high pollution incidents, there is a story to be told, and it is one that I need to look at further.
Clearly, the situation with regard to the Sixmilewater is a difficult one to manage because of the profile and character of the area; the length of the river; the tributaries that flow into the river; and the industrial and populated nature of the area. That is why I can confirm that, during 2012, there will be a local management area plan for the Sixmilewater river. It will be drawn up in order to better manage the river. Better management is only as good as better enforcement and the work of the agency, other Departments and stakeholders.
I acknowledge the work of the Ballinderry group and the Six Mile Water Trust. I keep saying that we are gifted in Northern Ireland through having a scale of natural built heritage that is unequalled in any other part of these islands. However, given the constraints of government power and money, the more that local communities take responsibility for our local waterways, local buildings and other examples of local built natural heritage, the better.
I also acknowledge that, because of the critical incidents a short while ago, the NIEA and the Department are working more closely with local stakeholders to maximise the opportunities to protect that natural asset. That has been the tone of much of the conversation and advice that I have picked up. However, Members will not get any argument from me today or over the next while that we are doing all that we can. There is clearly more that we should do, and that is the undertaking that I make to the House.
Adjourned at 5.35 pm.
I have also attached them as a PDF file at the bottom of this page if you want a copy.
18 OCTOBER 2011 NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY
ADJOURNMENT
Sixmilewater River: Pollution
Mr Deputy Speaker: I remind Members that the proposer of the Adjournment topic will have up to 15 minutes in which to speak. The Minister will have 10 minutes to respond, and all other Members who are called to speak will have approximately six minutes.
Mr Kinahan: I have never seen a room clear so quickly.
At the beginning of the debate, I declare two interests. First, I own land next door to the Sixmilewater and, indeed, have enjoyed walking along its edges for most of my life, hence my passion for what I am speaking about. Secondly, I am Danny Kennedy’s Assembly Private Secretary (APS), and certain matters on which I will speak briefly will touch on his role as Minister for Regional Development.
I will point out the main polluters of the Sixmilewater and, I hope, edge us towards zero tolerance of all pollution on rivers. I want today’s debate to be used as an example for all rivers, whether that be the Sixmilewater, the Blackwater, the Bush, the Faughan or any other river. We have to ensure that we look after all our rivers, which are the lifeblood of our beautiful country. Therefore, I will call for certain actions as I go through my speech and for education all the way through everything that we do so that the public and everyone who is involved learn how to look after their rivers better.
The Sixmilewater’s Irish name is Abhainn na bhFiodh, and although I am not very good at Irish, I think that I have pronounced it correctly. It is a rather lovely name and is also the name of one of the holes on the golf course at the Hilton Templepatrick Hotel. It was originally called the Ollar and changed its name to the Sixmilewater in line with soldiers from Carrickfergus moving six miles to a fort that was on the river. The river is 20 miles long and runs through Ballynure, Ballyclare, Doagh, Parkgate, Templepatrick, Dunadry and Antrim. Of course, do not forget all the farms and the other land that it runs through. It is the key waterway in the South Antrim constituency.
It would not be in the good order that it should be in if it were not for the fishermen, the Antrim and District Angling Association and many others who have been managing it since the 1950s. I will go into that in more detail later. They have been managing it phenomenally well, considering that polluters and others have been doing their best to destroy it.
Pollution is something that we all forget about. The general public need to be wary of what they are throwing away and how they throw it away, whether that be litter being washed into the rivers or the unmentionables that people put into their septic tanks and elsewhere. That all builds up and causes the breaks that often lead to pollution. With that go the septic tanks themselves. Last night, I heard that there are 70,000 septic tanks in County Down alone. If that figure is taken throughout Northern Ireland, there is a phenomenal mass of septic tanks, all of which put water into our rivers. One would hope that that water is always treated, but it is not. We need to educate the public and look at our planning processes and at how we enforce the use of septic tanks and try to get away from their overuse.
I will move on to the issue of farming, and I stress that I am not picking on farmers. Sadly, I was not in the Chamber when the Minister of the Environment answered the question for urgent oral answer on slurry spreading. I am pleased to see him here for the debate, but we should probably have four different Ministers here as four different Departments are involved with rivers. Slurry being spread on the ground and going into the rivers is not the only problem. There is also the clearing of habitat by farmers and the damage done by cattle. We need to educate the farming world and, of course, learn from it, as it has many good ways to do things.
There is also the problem of illegal activities at the sides of rivers. For example, last year, some cat litter was thrown into the Sixmilewater, and it took five days to remove it. It had been used for cleaning fuel, and because it was toxic and the council did not know where the farm was even though there was a large building 200 yards away that looked like a farm building, it took five days to clear. There is a mass of illegal ways to pollute our rivers.
Planning and development can pollute rivers in many different ways. A simple planning site for two buildings needs to be enforced properly to make sure that the buildings are not moved and allowed to be built by the river. In many cases, that has not happened or we have put too much scale into the building with too much run-off so that the waters pour quickly into rivers and create flooding at a much earlier stage. Again, that does much damage to the rivers and brings with it all the pollution. There is also an issue while the buildings are being put up; for example, heavy rain may wash silt and all the other things that come from building sites into rivers. We have to ensure that we have good enforcement at all times, not just examples of it here and there. Enforcement needs to be checked at every possible opportunity.
4.45 pm
From the sports side, the spraying of weeds has an impact. In one case, such spraying all the way alongside the river has killed all the weeds. Spraying weeds stops the plants binding, and, in time, the sides of the banks will collapse. So, you have to be very careful there. Again, combating that comes down to education.
Moving again to south Antrim, we should look at the car washes there. Euro car wash, for example, is one of many car wash providers. It is legal, because it has a permit, but we need to check why we are giving permits and whether the water from those car washes is going into the rivers. There are many more car washes, but we must look at enforcing the regulations that deal with them. I ask people to follow my example and just keep a good dirty car: it is much better that way, and it saves a lot of pollution going into the rivers.
The building and gritting of roads contribute to pollution. We should look at the bad weather that we had last year and think of the amount of grit that was placed on all the roads. That grit then washed into our ditches and went from the ditches into our rivers. I do not think that we think along those lines at all.
Then there are the various wastewater treatment plants in Northern Ireland. There is one in particular near Ballyclare. Whenever that plant overflows in times of flooding, the sewage goes into the river and pollutes. It is a fact that that happens, and the Department for Regional Development (DRD) will have to take that on board. In Scotland last week, we met representatives of Scottish Water, which has exactly the same problem. Such wastewater treatment plants are part of the system for treating our water, but we must find a way as quickly as we can to stop the treatment works that overflow and flood into rivers when, typically, we have more rain than we expect.
The worst polluter of all on the Sixmilewater was industry. We do not know who was responsible for the pollutions, but we still want to know who was involved, and we would still like to see prosecutions. Some 10,000 fish were killed. If you think that through, you will realise that the grubs and the invertebrates in the river were killed and cleared away and the fish and the birds had gone. For example, the kingfisher, which would normally be up and down the river and which the Hilton Hotel has as its logo, has not been back since, even though there are kingfishers elsewhere. If we think about the food chain, there are humans at the end of it, so we have to be very careful.
Those are your polluters, and that was a fairly good gallop through all the different types of pollution. However, rather than be negative all the time, I would like to thank many people. I already touched on the anglers. Last night, I had the pleasure of listening to the Ballinderry trust showing how rivers can be managed better. I hope that the Minister will go away and find out how Ballinderry trust and the excellent Six Mile Water Trust are planning to do things, as there is a mass of good volunteers with expertise who, with a little bit more training, can help us to enforce and monitor our rivers.
There are also excellent staff in all the different agencies. There are probably too many agencies involved at the same time. I would hate to go through a list of thanks without mentioning Alan Kirkpatrick, who we lost a few years ago. He who was one of those passionate people who would ring you up at midnight if he found something on a river. There was no getting out of joining him to see the pollution.
So, we are asking for joined-up government. We want to see the four Departments working closely together. I asked each of the Departments whether they were planning to pull all the agencies together under one agency or whether they would share responsibility, and all of them indicated that they would not be doing so in the near future.
We need independent sampling. Last night, we heard of an excellent initiative called the Anglers Monitoring Initiative, which has 22 people monitoring 28 sites on the Ballinderry river. We want to see the same happening all the way along the Sixmilewater and, of course, on other rivers.
We also should know all the people who discharge into rivers — I think that some 38 discharge into the Sixmilewater — and all the owners and others who may be discharging into a river. If we know who they are, using the same example of the cat litter, we can immediately go to them and get permission to take whatever action is needed. We need strong and quick enforcement. We need good communication. We have an excellent hotline but it could work that much better. What I am asking for today is joined-up Government, independent sampling and training, and even maybe more bailiffs. Let us really pull together and move forward.
On being made Chairman of the Audit Committee, the most exciting Committee here, I was slightly surprised to find something pertinent to the Sixmilewater. When visiting the Audit Office in Belfast, however, they said that they monitor the Chamber, the questions and concerns of Members and then choose various items to look into and report on. They mentioned the ‘Control of River Pollution in Northern Ireland’, a report of 30 April 1998 with 21 recommendations. I would lay a bet that those are the same recommendations some 13 years later.
I call on the Assembly and all of us here to push to make sure that documents that do exist have all the right recommendations, come off the shelves and are used because there we have exactly what we should be doing and exactly what I am asking for today. I am very pleased to see so many of you here supporting this matter, and I look forward to seeing things get much better on pollution.
Mr T Clarke: My colleague from South Antrim referred to Alan Kirkpatrick. In my time on Antrim Borough Council — I should declare an interest as a member of Antrim Borough Council — I had the good fortune to meet Alan when he attended the council’s countryside recreation committee. What Danny said about Alan is spot on. Alan had a passion.
I suppose I am in the unfortunate position in that I do not know many other fishermen, and maybe that is my own fault; maybe I have not familiarised myself with them. Sorry, I should not say fishermen. I think there are maybe women as well because I note that we have men and women in the Public Gallery. So, I suppose it is not a sport that is primarily for just men; it is open to women also, so I would like to put that on the record, just for political correctness.
What Danny outlined is not a new problem or unique to the Sixmilewater. Unfortunately, it is familiar on many rivers across Northern Ireland. However, I am not trying to take anything away from the emphasis on the Sixmilewater. I am glad that the Minister of the Environment has come today to speak about that. I suppose we could also have had the Ministers with responsibility for roads and agriculture. We are not going to pick on the Minister today, and I hope that he does not feel that we are going to pick on him.
One issue concerns me greatly, and Danny did not focus on it with regard to pollution on the Sixmilewater. Yesterday’s heavy rain was an example, and hopefully that was the most severe such event we will have this year and there will not be a repeat of 2008. However, there have been a number of planning applications close to the river. I am thinking primarily more at the Antrim end, where there is a concentration of houses. Danny spoke about run-off from roads and septic tanks. However, there is more than that. We have had a concentration of new developments that have placed extreme pressures on rivers and their flows, and I know from conversations that I had with the late Alan Kirkpatrick that he was very much against that. I am sure that if I spoke to most fishermen and women today, they would have the same concerns.
There have been incidents, going back to 2008, with oil tanks floating about and running back to the rivers. We also have raw sewage. Although we can criticise the Minister about development and how to bring forward development proposals, I would criticise proposals that have allowed houses to be built on flood plains and close to river banks.
I am thinking of the Seven Mile Straight in the Antrim area and houses closer to the Dublin Road in Antrim, which all suffered in 2008. I know that this debate is not about flooding, but a consequence of the flooding was a negative impact on the river. I ask the Minister to take cognisance of that and feed down to his Department that we need to take more care and caution with planning applications and rivers.
Danny touched on many other aspects, including roads, and referred to today’s question about the slurry ban. A farmer said to me last week — I stand to be corrected — that 24 tons of urea are used at the International Airport every day that there is frost. That all goes to our watercourse. Danny touched on salting, and it is OK to touch on all the things that are happening and their effect. I am not trying to put down the debate but, unfortunately, these debates have no teeth. What other method have we come up with for gritting roads? Rivers are important to the people who use them for all sorts of activity, not just fishermen but people who engage in other leisure pursuits. They do not want them to be polluted, and neither do I. However, it is OK to say that we can be careful about how we grit the roads, but how else do we do that? We need to come up with more imaginative ideas on what products we use so that we do not cause river pollution. I do not think that that debate has ever taken place.
Danny touched on flooding, and there is also the issue of oil tanks. If we drive around the Province, and, again, it is not unique to Sixmilewater, we see spills of oil and petrol from vehicles. All of that goes into the rivers. Today, it is OK to have tongue-in-cheek conversations and give out tea and sympathy because that might sound right to people sitting in the Public Gallery. However, they might be more interested in hearing what we will do to tackle pollution rather than about the issues and problems. They might prefer to hear what we, as a Government, can do in Northern Ireland to address pollution as a whole.
I support Danny’s topic for debate, but I am a wee bit disappointed because I sometimes feel that we talk for the sake of talking. If I had an opportunity to speak to people upstairs, I am sure that they would say that they want to know what we will do about pollution and how we will prevent it in the future. However, I support the emphasis of the debate, and I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say and whether he is prepared to think outside the box about what we can do differently to prevent some instances of pollution, not only in Sixmilewater but in all rivers across the Province.
Mr McLaughlin: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I apologise in advance: other Assembly business ran on a bit, and I have a 5.00 pm meeting with the Minister of Education. I want to put on record my appreciation of my colleague’s efforts in securing the debate, notwithstanding Trevor’s valid point about the impact of these discussions.
Now that we have set out the number of occasions on which this particular watercourse has been poisoned, we must reflect that the same thing happens right across the region. At times, Departments have been found to be culpable as well as private individuals. I do not wish to repeat what has been said — it has been presented perfectly well. I apologise to the Minister that I will not be here to hear his response, but I hope that he might give some consideration to publishing a list of those who, after investigation, are found to be responsible. That list need not go into the detail of sanctions that could be applied from time to time. However, if people are aware of who is responsible, they can make judgements, particularly if that responsibility extends across the spectrum from Departments and their agencies to private enterprise, private individuals or farmers.
Water is a precious resource, and waterways are immensely important to our economy, tourist industry and leisure industry. Often, the voluntary efforts made in conjunction with statutory support are completely undermined. We hear and read about fish kills in the tens of thousands, which must be heartbreaking for those who had made the effort to restock and nurture their fish. So I strongly endorse the comments made by Trevor and Danny.
Raising public consciousness would be best served if people could read for themselves who was responsible for the pollution. It is more than a trend: it is almost a tradition that rivers are treated in a cavalier fashion. We must challenge that. Let us start with a consciousness exercise, draw attention to the repeat offenders and ensure that the sanctions fit the crime, because very often they do not.
5.00 pm
Mr Ford: I am afraid that I will have to emulate Mitchel McLaughlin by giving my apologies, as I shall also be leaving before the debate is over. However, I appreciate the opportunity to take part. I thank Danny for having secured the debate. It may be an issue of particular concern to those of us who represent South Antrim, but it is also one that highlights more general issues about the way in which we manage watercourses in general.
A generation ago, the Sixmilewater was, effectively, a river flowing through an almost totally rural area. Even the Ballymartin tributary was something much the same. There was a limited amount of housing and industry around Ballyclare and, until you got to below Templepatrick, it was almost all pristine and rural. Now, the increasing growth of housing and industry in Ballyclare and the significant growth of industry around Mallusk have meant that we have seen a significant increase in pollution incidents almost annually. Serious fish kills are occurring due to carelessness or criminal activity by people who are not concerned about what they are doing and allow waste to be dumped into the rivers or who are doing it quite deliberately. Although there are ongoing problems around rural issues involving the potential for herbicides, pesticides or fertiliser run-off that have some effect on the river, there is absolutely no doubt that the most serious effects have been those associated with industrial development and the pollution of various poisons that have ended up in the waterways.
In June 2009, an answer to a question for written answer to the Department of the Environment stated that there had been a 20% reduction in the number of confirmed water-pollution incidents between 2000 and 2008. That was fine as regards a general trend. However, we continue to see major episodes, including one in January this year, which add to the background history. Whatever may be happening to make some general improvements, far too many serious incidents are still happening. Those serious incidents undermine the good work being done by a number of agencies, in particular, local angling clubs and the work being done together by the Six Mile Water Trust and the two councils in Antrim and Newtownabbey and in a variety of other local instances.
I remember attending a public meeting in the Antrim Forum about three years ago when there had been a further pollution incident, and I have no doubt that some Members in the Chamber were also present. A variety of proposals were put forward by anglers, and people made various suggestions. However, it seemed that we did not have a joined-up way of approaching the needs of the Sixmilewater. The fact that the trust is now in operation, and Danny gave a report on what happened last night, at least shows that we are starting to make things move particularly well.
However, because of the different agencies responsible, I am not sure that we have really got to grips with what is happening around Mallusk. I am aware of the good work that is being sought. A suggestion put to me by a local angler was that we should look at some sort of settlement pond so that run-off from Mallusk would not go straight into the Ballymartin but would be caught, potentially diluted, and potentially even extracted before it could get into the waterway. It seems that the river is extremely vulnerable when the water level is low; in particular, the Ballymartin water and then from Templepatrick on down the Sixmilewater. However, it is not just that. There is also the issue of what we are seeing around Ballyclare with the growth in its development, and there are problems around the main part of the Sixmilewater because of that.
I noted the reference made to the Ballinderry trust, and that is a useful example that can be quoted. However, we also have to recognise that, in some senses — I am not suggesting that life is completely easy for Ballinderry — there is a relatively easy position there, a rural area with relatively little urbanisation and industry. Nevertheless, as I said, the generation change for the Sixmilewater has meant that all those problems have occurred.
I certainly welcome the fact that the Environment Agency has been involved in a lot of pollution prevention inspections around Mallusk. There has clearly been an effort to engage, but I am not sure whether we have really cracked it. There is more work to be done.
There are also issues such as the waste water treatment works in Ballyclare. There is a new sewerage works in the area, but there are already concerns about its capacity. There are also issues about the continuing development around Ballyclare, the new housing and industry and the fact that, during the bad weather last December, a significant number of tanker-loads of waste water sludge had to be carted out of a site. All those things mean that there are issues that could add to the pollution.
We have seen the benefits of a partnership approach. I pay tribute to all the volunteers who played a part in it, and I add my references to the work and commitment that was initially shown by Alan Kirkpatrick. However, much more needs to be done to build up partnership and for agencies to work together.
The Minister’s work on re-engaging on the issue of an independent environmental protection agency also needs to be dealt with. Realistically, we could have expected to see the Ministers for Agriculture and Rural Development, Regional Development and, given the issues around Mallusk, possibly Enterprise, Trade and Investment sitting here alongside the Minister of the Environment. That is a measure of the lack of a joined-up position among our public agencies, and an independent environmental protection agency would be one way to start to address the problem in a more joined-up fashion than we have so far seen.
Mr Girvan: I congratulate Danny for securing the debate this evening. I declare an interest as having a family involvement in the ownership of land along the banks of the Sixmilewater and also on the lower Ballyboley tributary.
It is important to take Members’ comments on board, such as the pollution to which David Ford referred. In 2008, there was a major incident. Some form of chemical made its way into the Ballymartin river and wiped out all habitat, invertebrate and fish life from there to the entry into Lough Neagh. It was important to get a sample at an early opportunity to identify where the incident had originated. Unfortunately, for one reason or another — I will reserve judgement on that matter — the sample never seemed to make its way through to enable the authorities to find out who the culprit was on that occasion. I believe that there was a smoking gun, but insufficient evidence was gathered early enough.
That has exercised a number of people who have an interest in the issue. We attended many meetings with the Six Mile Water Trust and discussed how to conduct sampling that will be acceptable to the Department. We also discussed how to gather statistical data that can be used evidentially to identify a timeline as to when pollution has occurred in an area of water. A move needs to be made to allow some type of local bailiff, because the custodian of the Sixmilewater is not the Environment Agency. None of the people who identified the incidents have been government officials but people who have a vested interest in what is going on in the river. They have, primarily, been anglers.
I go back to an incident that took place on the Sixmilewater in January 2010. There was a problem, and all the indications were that it came from the sewage treatment works on the Templepatrick Road in Ballyclare, because everything from that point to the Doagh bridge was wiped out.
The only godsend was that there was a fairly high water level in the river and the pollution was well diluted. However, it created a problem, and there was a large fish kill along that stretch of river. If local people had been given the opportunity to identify the pollution and to take water samples, the problem could have been identified before the Department came on site.
Mention was made of discharges and consents to discharge, and Danny mentioned the 70,000 non-designated discharges into water courses in County Down. If you multiplied that to include County Antrim, the Sixmilewater and its catchment area, which is some 20 miles long, that number would be much higher. If a property is built beside a river, the overflow of its septic tank will flow directly into it without passing through filter beds or reed beds. Owners feel that it is safe to allow their septic tanks to overflow as it does not create a problem for them; their waste goes into the river, which takes it away.
Mr T Clarke: Although I referred in my contribution to things that cannot be done, something that can be done, and I hope that the Minister takes this on board, is that proper measures should be put in place to prevent overflows from septic tanks when consents are applied for.
Mr Deputy Speaker: The Member has an extra minute.
Mr Girvan: Thank you. There is a major problem in that area, and overflows from septic tanks are not being checked properly. People do not use their septic tanks correctly: we know about bleaches and how they destroy the balance in septic tank, and, if they are used, bleaches will also make their way into rivers. The policing of septic tanks needs to be looked at.
I am not going to let the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) off the hook, because it has a key role in ensuring that issues are properly policed. However, it is not the only agency involved, and other government agencies seem to have turned a blind eye despite having control. For example, the Fisheries Conservancy Board plays a role in Lough Neagh into which the Sixmilewater runs, yet it has turned a blind eye to certain activities. However, those days are gone, and we must ensure that the board is called to account for its actions.
It is important that we support those with an interest in ensuring that we retain something that is not just an asset but which could also be a great tourist attraction. Angling is one of the most common sports; there are probably more people involved in it than in football or other sports. It is vital that, instead of allowing our rivers to turn into open sewers, we make use of them and clean them up. We must also ensure that, from an agricultural point of view, farmers, who are also custodians of the rivers, do not farm right up to riverbanks. They must leave a space so that they do not pollute the water with slurry spread and everything else and allow such pollution to filter through the ground. Those points all need to be brought forward.
It is good that we are having the debate this evening, but it is only one way of introducing the issue. Other major players such as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of the Environment (DOE) and DRD must also be brought on board.
5.15 pm
Ms Lewis: I thank my colleague Danny Kinahan for raising the issue in the House this evening. I welcome the opportunity to speak on an issue of great concern to many in the South Antrim constituency: the pollution of the Sixmilewater. I declare an interest as a member of Antrim Borough Council.
We were all disappointed to hear about the latest pollution incident in the river, which was not an isolated episode. Indeed, such incidents are, sadly, regular occurrences. Pollution has done huge damage to the river and has been responsible for thousands of dead fish over the past few years. That is a terrible loss for the natural life of the river. It is also a blow to those who have worked so hard to replenish fish stocks in the river and who have effectively sought grants and lottery funds to help them with their work. In particular, I think of the work of the Antrim and District Angling Association, and it is right that the Assembly recognises the work that its members have done in trying to keep the river free from pollution.
However, it is important to note that this is not just an environmental problem or one that just affects those directly involved in fishing; it is also an economic problem. Through fishing and angling, the river provides economic benefit for the area. As one who wants to see the tourism potential of the constituency enhanced, I am greatly disappointed when I hear that the river cannot be used by anglers due to such pollution incidents. Often, it has only just recovered from one incident of pollution when another occurs, and that does serious and prolonged damage to the river’s reputation. People are put off from coming to fish due to those incidents, and it affects not only the angling industry but the wider local economy. The extra benefits that visitors bring could be permanently lost to the area, and that should not be allowed to continue.
As the Sixmilewater flows directly into Lough Neagh, there is also the worry of wider implications and the possibility of an industrial discharge having a major impact on Lough Neagh itself. Lough Neagh touches five of the six counties of Northern Ireland; it is the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles, and the area around it is one of the most important bird habitats in western Europe. The lough provides a unique and valuable natural resource, offering a very productive ecosystem that supports thousands of wildfowl and a large scale eel-fishing industry. If pollution on that scale should occur, the damage would be catastrophic.
Obviously, we all want to see zero pollution in the Sixmilewater and, though there has been a reduction in the numbers of high, medium and low severity incidents over the past five years, the number remains at an unacceptable level. There were 63 incidents in 2006 and 48 in 2010. The trend is encouraging, but that is not good enough. I note that NI Water has been responsible for two incidents that led to prosecution and conviction since 2007; one at Massereene, the other at Clotworthy. That should be of great concern to us, and I look forward to receiving assurances from the Minister for Regional Development that NI Water has taken steps to ensure that there will be no repetition.
The Assembly, the DOE and the NIEA need to do two things to ensure that we can continue to reduce the number of pollution incidents in the Sixmilewater. The first involves education; the second, serious punishment for those convicted. We need to let people know the dangers that pollution causes and the consequences of their actions. They need to know how they can prevent it from happening and the steps that they can take. However, education alone is not enough. In spite of all the advice and information that we can give to people, there will be those who choose to ignore it. People who offend persistently need to be prosecuted and fined heavily on conviction. More often than not, business or industry is at fault, and I am concerned that the fines are at a level insufficient to deter. The rest of us are left to count the cost, both in economic and environmental terms.
If we are serious about taking those actions, it will go a long way towards freeing the river from pollution, sending a message to the polluters and ensuring that the Sixmilewater can be enjoyed by us and by generations to come.
Mr Agnew: I thank Danny for bringing forward the motion. I chose to speak in the debate although the Sixmilewater river is not in my constituency. In 2008, when there was the major fish kill — 35,000 fish were killed by pollution — Brian Wilson hosted the anglers who came to the Long Gallery in Stormont and called for an independent environmental protection agency.
As has been pointed out, this is not something that affects only the Sixmilewater, though that seems to be where a significant number of such incidents take place. When I was working for Brian, I remember that a major fish kill occurred in the River Quoile. I am sure that Members check the BBC news website regularly, and it seems that every few months there is another fish kill, some more significant than others. Unfortunately, we do not hear about prosecutions subsequent to those news stories. I would like to make the following point today: clearly, what we are doing is not sufficient. Prosecutions are not sufficient in number or in severity.
At the time of the March 2008 fish kill, my colleague Brian Wilson called for an independent review of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency’s investigative capabilities. Ultimately, I do not think that that body, as it is currently constituted, can be the solution to this problem. To highlight the crux of the problem: in 2011 to date, there have been 89 industrial discharges and 12 Northern Ireland Water asset discharges — legal pollution of the Sixmilewater river. The NIEA grants those consents and is then required to go and investigate pollution when there is a kill.
Mr Frew: Some of those issues would have been part of what was a planning application in relation to industrial procedures that were going on. The NIEA is a consultee in relation to those applications, and it did not even highlight any concerns when it was consulted on that. The particular one that I am talking about concerns a car wash.
Mr Agnew: I thank the Member for making that point because I was not aware of it. However, it highlights the issue: we have a body that on the one hand grants permission to pollute while on the other investigates pollution. That does not sit comfortably with me.
I back up David Ford’s call. We need an independent environmental protection agency that will have environmental protection at its core, based on the “polluter pays” principle. We need restoration orders, so that people found guilty of illegal pollution are required to restore rivers as much as possible — it cannot always be done entirely with our natural environment — to how they were before a pollution incident. We need profit orders and administrative penalties. As I said, the level of fine does not reflect the level of damage caused. To give an example: there were 292 incidents of pollution in the Sixmilewater between 2003 and 2008, for which fines worth £4,350 were issued. Across so many incidents, £4,350 in fines is clearly not acting as a deterrent.
Other Members have pointed out the benefits of our natural environment to our economy. Angling contributes an estimated £10 million annually to the Northern Ireland economy. Tourism is currently 1•9% of our GDP, but, as a member of the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee, I know that the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has significant plans to increase our tourism revenue, and our natural environment is a vital part of that strategy. Also, as was mentioned, there is the matter of our water security. With winter coming, we are aware of issues around our water infrastructure. The more that we pollute our water, the more pressure we put on that infrastructure.
I thank the Minister and welcome him because he has opened up a conversation on the issue of an independent environmental protection agency. It is time that we agreed in principle to have one and started a debate on what that protection agency should look like. I note that three DUP Members are here to highlight those issues. I hope that they will see, through the debate, the importance of environmental protection and take that back to their party, which was the main objector when we originally called for an independent protection agency.
Mr T Clarke: Does the Member accept that, whether the agency is independent or government-run, if it is run correctly it could do the same job or deliver the same outcomes? We need a Northern Ireland Environment Agency that does its job better as opposed to introducing an independent agency. There is no reason why our own in-house agency, if it does its job correctly, cannot deliver the same outcomes.
Mr Deputy Speaker: The Member has an extra minute.
Mr Agnew: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.
I thank the Member for his intervention. However, when the then Minister, Arlene Foster, announced the new Northern Ireland Environment Agency, we were told that it would do the job better than the previous Environment and Heritage Service. The continuing problems with the Sixmilewater are an example of what I believe is the failure in how that body is constituted. It cannot, on the one hand, give out licences to discharge and, on the other hand, seek to investigate instances of pollution. If it finds that its discharge consents are responsible for fish kills —
Mr Deputy Speaker: Will the Member draw his remarks to a close, please?
Mr Agnew: — it might not seek to prosecute or even admit to those results.
I thank Mr Kinahan for bringing the issue to the House, and I look forward to the Minister’s response.
Mr Attwood (The Minister of the Environment): I thank all Members who contributed to the debate. I know that other Members wished to contribute but could not do so because of other business. We must all acknowledge Danny Kinahan’s speech and his securing of an Adjournment debate on the topic. His personal interest in that part of the North of Ireland, which he clearly values and cherishes, was very much reflected in the eloquence, structure and content of his speech.
As other Members indicated, what everybody has said over the past hour forms the basis of proposals for best practice that could apply to any stretch of river. That is the power and importance of debates such as this. If you extract and then interrogate the content of the debate, you should be able to develop a charter of best practice that applies to the Sixmilewater and any other river with similar problems. That is what I intend to do. I will not offer, in the words of Mr Clarke, “tea and sympathy”, but I will try to think outside the box. A spotlight must be shone on DOE so that no stone is left unturned in finding out what work might be forthcoming from across its functions, and I will apply the same rigour to addressing this issue.
Members know that, to try to interrogate issues in the Department that I thought needed to be addressed, and which people told me needed to be addressed, I ran a series of gatherings over the summer months on issues such as beach and water quality, planning, urban planning, road traffic, crime and built heritage. I was trying to identify what could reasonably be done in the short term and more strategically through policy and legislation. I will apply the same discipline to this issue, and Danny Kinahan’s concluding remarks are the reason why I will do so. He outlined a number of principles that should govern the policy and approach of government to the problems faced by Sixmilewater and similar river systems. What were some of those principles that quite a number of other Members touched on during the debate?
First, given that I represent the Government here but should be speaking on behalf of four Departments, Mr Kinahan asked whether it was time to consider how we could bring together, in a much more joined-up or perhaps more integrated way, all the functions of government that impact on rivers, including Sixmilewater. We have to get our heads round that, because I intend to introduce a marine Bill in the near future. I will be asking people to endorse the concept of a marine management organisation that gathers in one place all the functions of government in an effort to maximise marine management. Is the same principle not applicable to the management of our river systems, including Sixmilewater?
Secondly, he asked whether it was time to start thinking about an independent environment agency. In a matter of days, we might have no alternative but to more actively consider that. A decision from the European Court is forthcoming on environmental assessments in the North and whether our processes are seen to be and, in fact, are independent and rigorous enough to satisfy European standards on environmental testing. That might be the impetus for us to consider more generally what I tried to accelerate over the summer, namely a testing of the concept that an independent environment agency is the best model and mechanism to deal with issues of water management, including those around Sixmilewater.
I agree with the argument that has been made that, independent of what structures there are, rigour of approach when it comes to penalties and criminal actions in respect of rivers is the front line in ensuring that river management and water quality is maintained. I will not go into details now. However, across the scope of enforcement in the Department, be it on the planning side, environment side or the crime unit, I have instructed officials to be robust in pursuing polluters, especially the most severe polluters, in all of that.
5.30 pm
I want to acknowledge, as I have done before, that, in his opening speech at the beginning of term on 5 September and in private correspondence with me, Sir Declan Morgan, the Lord Chief Justice, has made the issue of environmental crime a priority going forward. Furthermore, the Judicial Studies Board is looking at the issue and working with the judiciary in an effort to ensure that the court system’s penalties and practices on environmental crime are — as I see it, although it is for Sir Declan Morgan to say — more demanding and rigorous in order to ensure that the polluters of the Sixmilewater, tyre depots or any other aspect of the life and quality of the North are dealt with robustly.
One thing that I will make a commitment about is that the planning system produced a schedule of all cases that went before the courts in recent years. That has been forwarded to the Judicial Studies Board. Last week, at the reconvened built heritage crime summit at Conway Mill on the Falls Road, I asked officials to do the same in respect of built heritage crime. We need to do the same in respect of issues that have been identified here so that we pass over to the judiciary the profile and outcome of all cases in a way that might assist it to determine whether all is being done on the criminal justice or court side that should be done. I want to acknowledge all of that.
Obviously, in the little time that I have left, I want to comment on the particular circumstances of the Sixmilewater in respect of criminal prosecutions. People are absolutely right that there were two severe penalties in 2008. In my briefing, Mr Agnew, I was not given the figure of 38,000 fish killed.
Mr Agnew: It was 35,000.
Mr Attwood: The figure is 35,000. The system tells me every time that there is a fish kill in any river in the North of Ireland, but I was not given that figure. The scale of that worries me. That is why, in respect of both cases — one, which was dismissed in court, arising from prosecution and the other, which was touched upon by Mr Girvan, in which the evidence was not beyond a reasonable doubt — that is the advice that I have been given. However, given what Mr Agnew has said and other information that has been made available to me in the past hour and a half, I will go off and interrogate that further to examine the quality of that judgement; whether it was the judgement of the NIEA or the Public Prosecution Service with regard to the threshold.
I confirm that, in respect of the January 2011 incident, which is more current, I have been advised that the Department is following “a definite line of inquiry”. Given that it is important that I do not be seen to comment on due process and ongoing investigations, I will leave it at that. However, in that narrative on severe and high pollution incidents, there is a story to be told, and it is one that I need to look at further.
Clearly, the situation with regard to the Sixmilewater is a difficult one to manage because of the profile and character of the area; the length of the river; the tributaries that flow into the river; and the industrial and populated nature of the area. That is why I can confirm that, during 2012, there will be a local management area plan for the Sixmilewater river. It will be drawn up in order to better manage the river. Better management is only as good as better enforcement and the work of the agency, other Departments and stakeholders.
I acknowledge the work of the Ballinderry group and the Six Mile Water Trust. I keep saying that we are gifted in Northern Ireland through having a scale of natural built heritage that is unequalled in any other part of these islands. However, given the constraints of government power and money, the more that local communities take responsibility for our local waterways, local buildings and other examples of local built natural heritage, the better.
I also acknowledge that, because of the critical incidents a short while ago, the NIEA and the Department are working more closely with local stakeholders to maximise the opportunities to protect that natural asset. That has been the tone of much of the conversation and advice that I have picked up. However, Members will not get any argument from me today or over the next while that we are doing all that we can. There is clearly more that we should do, and that is the undertaking that I make to the House.
Adjourned at 5.35 pm.
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