After initiating legal proceedings against Nagirra Ltd. following a pollution incident on the River Ounavarragh in September 2004, the Ounavarragh Angling Association finally received substantial damages in compensation for the fish kill which devastated the river and their angling club waters.
The pollution – which caused the death of thousands of wild fish including salmon, brown trout, sea trout, eel, stone loach and lamprey – occurred when molasses escaped from a tank and into the River Brackernagh (a tributary of the Ounavarragh) via an on site surface water drain.
The club became aware of the fish kill following a phone call from a concerned local who saw numerous dead fish in the river. Club officials and Fishery Board staff were quickly on the scene where they sourced the pollution to a farmyard owned by Nagirra Ltd. The pollution had resulted in an almost complete fish kill in downstream sections from the tributary to where it meets the main river (Ounavarragh) and down to the sea. There were so many dead juvenile and adult fish that even after the clean up the river smelled for weeks. Salmon up to 18lb, sea trout to 3lb and brown trout to 2lb were found dead in the river.
Nagirra Ltd. were successfully prosecuted by the Fisheries Board for this incident but denied civil liability for damage caused to the angling club’s polluted fishery. The claim made by the angling club was expected to go all the way to trial but after a long and ponderous seven years a settlement was finally agreed upon and substantial damages were awarded to the Ounavarragh Angling Association in October 2011.
A message to all angling clubs – never let the polluter off and continue pressing on even in the face of adversity, as eventually you will have your day. Remember, pollution never pays and the polluter will always pay.
