The Port of Waterford has been ordered to pay the costs in a case brought by the City Council following the illegal dumping of sludge into the River Suir.
At Waterford District Court yesterday, Judge William Harnett acknowledged the "significant cost" incurred by the port in cleaning up the area involved but ordered the company to pay the costs of the prosecution's case.
The case arose after it emerged that thousands of tonnes of sludge, including hazardous chemicals, were dumped into the Suir in Waterford without a discharge licence.
It emerged that sludge - generated from the cleaning of containers at the Port of Waterford's Belview site - was being taken by tanker to the port's traditional city base and emptied into a manhole at Frank Cassin Wharf, from where it flowed into the river a few metres away.
Waterford City Council confirmed that no licence had been granted for the disposal of sludge in the port. Neither had any licence been obtained to transport the sludge from Belview to the inner port in Waterford city.
The council took a case against the cleaning company responsible for the pollution and the port under the Water Pollution Act. The case against Belview Container Cleaning Ltd was heard in October and the company was fined €800.
The samples were subsequently tested in Kilkenny and found to contain traces of creosote. Sludge containing hazardous chemicals would cost €10,000 per tanker to ship abroad for incineration.