Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir is to seek agreement from colleagues on the Stormont Executive to withdraw from a long-standing arrangement with NI Water known as a Statement of Regulatory Principles and Intent (SORPI).

The SORPI was put in place between the NI Environment Agency and NI Water back when the company was formed in 2007.

The agreement recognised the fact that the new entity was inheriting waste water infrastructure in need of an upgrade.

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Speaking in the Stormont Assembly chamber on Tuesday, Minister Muir said almost 20 years later, the level of water pollution remains unacceptable, with over 20m tonnes of untreated sewage and waste water spilling into our waterways each year. As a result, he said he wanted to end the “bye-ball” given to NI Water, describing the SORPI arrangement as a “licence to pollute”.

“We must strengthen fines and penalties. I intend to introduce a fisheries and water environment bill in May to modernise enforcement powers by increasing the maximum fine for water pollution to £50,000 and introducing the ability to issue fixed penalty notices,” confirmed the Minister.

He also added that a new public awareness campaign on how best to manage a septic tank is coming this spring.

Double-standards

However, it was put to the Minster by Upper Bann MLA Jonathan Buckley that he was guilty of double standards given reports of slurry being blown over hedges at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) farm at Hillsborough.

“An inspection by the NIEA found a low-severity pollution incident regarding sewage fungus in a waterway below the farm that AFBI has taken action to address. Ongoing monitoring continues,” responded the Minister.