A Co Tyrone sand firm has been fined £400 with costs of £93 for discharging polluting trade waste into the Torrent river.
W.D. Irwin & Sons Ltd admitted at Cookstown Magistrates' Court yesterday the effluent had escaped into the river when the banks of a catchment pond burst at its plant at Gortgonis, Coalisland.
A lawyer for the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment said the discharge was potentially harmful to fishlife, but there was no evidence of a fish kill.
On being shown photos of the polluted water, the magistrate, Mr Maurice McHugh, commented: "I would not like to be eating any fish out of that river".