Lakeland Dairies was fined £115,000 (€135,000) at Strabane Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 13 August in relation to three separate pollution cases brought by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
The charges were taken against LacPatrick Dairies (NI) Ltd., a subsidiary company of Lakeland that operates out of its milk drying plant at Artigarvan, Strabane, in Co Tyrone. They included breaches observed in early 2025 relating to a damaged pipe, which caused a “contaminated discharge” and a separate issue involving a “significant milk spillage”, resulting in milk entering the Glenmornan River.
On a further occasion between 30 May and 4 July 2025, officers from NIEA identified breaches relating to the operation of the effluent treatment plant at the site.
Other breaches between 31 July and 8 September occurred due to a “severe degraded effluent line” which was allowing untreated milk to enter surrounding ground.
The company pleaded guilty to seven charges under the Pollution Prevention and Control regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 and to nine changes under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999.
Response
Responding to the case, a Lakeland spokesperson said the issues before the court arose as a result of “unintended operational circumstances” and during the period and since, the co-op has undertaken substantial investment at the Artigarvan site. That investment includes “significant upgrades to wastewater treatment infrastructure, enhanced monitoring systems and a range of operational improvements”.
“Lakeland Dairies remains fully committed to continuous improvement and to maintaining the highest standards of environmental compliance,” said the spokesperson.
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