A Stormont minister has been urged to retract his praise of a Co Down business whose owner has been fined for river pollution for a fourth time.
Martin Hamilton, director of ready-meals company Mash Direct, pleaded guilty at Newtownards Magistrates Court on Tuesday and was fined £3,000.
The River Enler was found "grossly polluted" by water quality inspectors for the Environment Agency in February last year.
Pollution was discovered where it meets the Ballystockart River and traced to premises owned by Mr Hamilton, of Ballyrainey Road in Comber.
Sludge had been spread on the fields and had run off into the water, affecting 2.5km of waterway.
Mr Hamilton was ordered to pay a £3,000 fine, court costs of £25 and a £15 offender levy.
The judge said he accepted Mr Hamilton had installed a £500,000 treatment system and had "done his best" to avoid pollution.
However, the businessman has previously been fined for three separate pollution offences on the river.
First Minister Arlene Foster is among politicians who have visited his business in the past.
Just last week, in a press release issued by the enterprise department, DUP enterprise minister Jonathan Bell praised Mash Direct as he posed for photos with its owners.
He was visiting the company as it has received £37,000 from Invest NI.
Green Party NI leader Steven Agnew yesterday accused the minister of a "serious error of judgement".
Friends of the Earth's NI director James Orr also criticised him for praising the enterprise of a "serial polluter".
"We call on Minister Bell to retract his commendation for Mash Direct, and to remind everyone in Northern Ireland's business sector that they have a duty to cherish our waterways and habitats, and not treat them as toxic dumping grounds," he said.
The minister failed to comment yesterday. In a statement his department also refused to be drawn on Mr Hamilton's pollution offences.
A spokeswoman said: "Mash Direct is recognised as a successful, export-orientated company, that is adding to NI's growing reputation for high quality food."
Mash Direct did not respond to requests for a comment.
