Nearly a third of cases in soil sample scandal in local area

IT has emerged that nearly a third of cases being criminally investigated across the North as part of the ‘fake soil sample’ scandal were submitted along with agricultural planning applications made in the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area.

Detectives from the PSNI’s Economic Crime Unit have confirmed that they are reviewing information regarding 108 potentially fraudulent farming planning applications listed between 2015 and 2023.

The applications relate to people seeking permission to build agricultural apparatus considered a potential environmental risk, such as pig, poultry and cattle sheds, as well as biogas plants, which are machines used to convert chemical waste into energy.

Of the 124 applications of this kind made between 2015 and 2022, it is alleged that 108 (87 per-cent) used bogus samples to circumvent environmental planning regulations, which are in place to ensure an applicant’s farmland is able to safely absorb hazardous chemicals.

A total of 29 of the applications under investigation originate from Fermanagh and Omagh.

Ulster Angling Federation director, Carrickmore native Mark Tierney, refused to blame farmers, instead claiming that the real responsibility lay with the government and the agencies tasked with protecting our environment.

He said, “I am not convinced that the farmers on whose behalf these soil sample results were submitted even knew anything about them.”

While Mr Tierney said those who fabricated the samples had questions to answer, he claimed the people who failed to put the correct checks and balances in place to prevent this from happening had bigger questions to answer still.

“In no other area would a regulatory body be so haphazard in the enforcement of their standards. The level of scrutiny here on the part of the NI Environment Agency has to leave you asking whether they possess any real desire to protect our land and waterways.”

The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) said it was “not aware” of any pig, poultry or cattle farms using inaccurate information to gain permission for animal housing until it was first published in the press.

A UFU spokesperson said, “It is completely unacceptable and only harms the reputation of Northern Ireland agriculture.

“It is critical that this matter is dealt with appropriately.”