A Rathcoole, Co Dublin, haulage company was fined €2,000 plus legal costs and witness expenses after a container of adhesive flowed into a local river, turning it white, Tallaght District Court heard yesterday.
Johnston Haulage Company Ltd, with an address at Blackchurch, Rathcoole, pleaded guilty to causing or permitting polluting matter to enter waters at Blackchurch on January 29th last, contrary to Section 3 (1) of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977.
The company also pleaded guilty to discharging or causing to permit the discharge of trade effluent and to failing to notify the local authority of a spillage at Blackchurch on the same date.
Mr Colm O'Shea, a water pollution engineer for South Dublin County Council, told the court that on January 29th he had been notified that part of the Griffeen river was "running white" near the Greenogue Industrial Estate. He said the white matter had been traced back to Johnston Haulage.
The court heard that a container had been punctured by a forklift truck.
In response to Mr Ciaran Pyne, solicitor for the county council, Mr O'Shea said the substance which had leaked into the river was injurious to fish life and contained high levels of ammonia and phosphorus.
Mr O'Shea then handed over some photographs of the site to Judge James McDonnell. Looking at the photographs of the spillage, the judge remarked: "It looks like a dump. I am not surprised that a forklift truck punctured something if it was travelling over such uneven ground."
In response to counsel for the defendant, Mr O'Shea said the company had never come to the council's attention on a similar matter.
Mr Cormac McCarthy, of the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board, said no fish were killed as a result of the spillage.
Convicting on all three counts, Judge McDonnell fined the company €1,000 on the first count, €500 each on the other two and assessed €720 witness expenses and €360 legal costs.