Water Pollution Offences
Pollution Offences
It is an offence to permit a pollutant to enter waters. There are several other offences in relation to the breach of water pollution and trade effluent licences. Breaches of licence conditions are offences.
Where a company is guilty of an offence under water pollution legislation, its directors, managers or secretaries may be liable if the offence is committed with their consent or connivance or is attributable to their neglect.
Where there is a prosecution, the Court may order that the defendant, who is found guilty, to pays the expenses incurred by the local authority or fisheries authority (IFI) in relation to the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence.
Fishing / Pollution Offences
It is a criminal offence to permit any pollutant to enter water. A pollutant includes any poisonous or noxious matter, substances or liquids, which if they entered water, would make it
- poisonous or injurious to fish, spawning grounds or the food of fish
- injure fish or their value as animal food or
- impair its usefulness as spawning grounds or
- render such water harmful or detrimental to public health or
- to domestic, industrial, agricultural, commercial, or recreational use.
Waters include any rivers, lakes, canals, reservoirs, ponds, inland waters, tidal waters, river banks etc.
A prosecution for allowing pollutants to enter water may be taken in the District Court by the local authority or Fisheries Authority (IFI). It is a defence to a criminal charge that the person took all reasonable care to prevent the entry of the pollutant into the water, by operating and supervising facilities or by employing practices or operations that are suitable for the prevention of pollution.
Fisheries Act
The fisheries legislation does not provide for a defence of reasonable care. Under the Fisheries Act, a person who causes or permits deleterious matter to enter water is guilty of an offence.
It is an offence for a person to discharge deleterious liquid contained in a receptacle within 30 yards of any waters. In theory, licences can be granted by the Minister for the Marine permitting such activities, but they are rarely in practice granted.
Deleterious matter means any substance which, on entry or discharge into any waters, is liable to render the waters poisonous or injurious to fish, spawning grounds or the food of any fish;
When an offence is committed by a body corporate with the consent or approval of or is facilitated by the neglect of any director, manager, secretary or another officer, that person is also guilty of an offence.
Such offences may be prosecuted by Gardai, Inland Fisheries Ireland or certain other persons.
Prosecutions
Breach of water pollution legislation may be prosecuted by
- the local authority concerned
- any person affected
- the Environmental Protection Agency in industrial emissions directive/integrated pollution control licence cases
- Inland Fisheries Ireland
The penalty on summary conviction is a fine of up to €3,000 and/or 12 months imprisonment. The penalty on conviction on indictment is up to €15 million fine and or 10 years; of imprisonment.
Offences may be committed by companies as well as directors, managers, secretaries and other officers acting as such who consented or connived in the commission of the offence or where the offence is attributable to his or her neglect.
Notice
Local authority officers have the power to enter and inspect premises and take samples. They may serve notices requiring prevention or control of pollution.
The notice may require termination of the discharge or the entry of polluting substances into waters. If this is not complied with, the local authority may take the required remedial steps and recover the costs from the persons on whom notice has been served.
Injunction
Any person may seek an order from a court where another person is causing or permitting, has caused or permitted polluted matter to enter waters or is discharging trade or sewage effluent. This is in addition to any civil law right of action.
The court has the power to make an order requiring termination mitigation and remediation of the effects. It may order payment of monies required to cover costs in investigating, mitigating and remediating the entry or discharge involved.
The High Court may prohibit any person from causing, permitting or continuing the entry of polluting matter into waters or the discharge of trade or sewage effluent. That may require specified measures as required or that persons refrain from doing specified acts or omissions.
Where trade or sewage effluent or other polluting matter enters water and causes loss of damage to a person or person’s property, that person may recover damages from the occupier of the premises from which the matter originated or a person whose act or omission occasioned the entry to the waters which in the opinion of the court would constitute a contravention of the legislation.
This is unless the entry into the water was by an act of God or act or omission of a third party over whose conduct the occupier had no control and which he or she could not have reasonably foreseen or guarded against.