GREEN campaigners have expressed fears that a new agreement between the Environment Agency and a farming lobby group will help polluters escape prosecution.
A 'memorandum of understanding' (MoU) is to be signed in the coming weeks between the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU).
The MoU was previously blocked by former minister Mark H Durkan, who warned it would have a "negative impact on the environment".
"I don't subscribe to the view that if you adopt a more lenient approach to something it somehow helps eradicate it," the SDLP assembly member said last year.
But the idea was resurrected when the DUP's Michelle McIlveen became minister last May for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera).
The department, which merged the old agriculture and environment portfolios at Stormont, said the MoU would both support farmers and deliver "improved environmental outcomes".
However, Friends of the Earth's James Orr – who has written to NIEA questioning the arrangement – said damaging the environment should not be treated with greater lenience.
"The research is very clear. The state of our water quality and the lack of deterrents require environmental crimes to be taken more seriously – not less," he said.
"We cannot afford any secret deals that may be designed to help polluters and not the environment. The solution is to have a transparent discussion with broad stakeholder involvement."
UFU defended the planned MoU, describing it as a "win-win for farmers and the environment".
"The aim is to deliver better environmental outcomes, improved compliance and farm sustainability in a way that improves relationships between farmers and NIEA," a spokeswoman said.
Civil servants are running government departments in the aftermath of the election while Stormont remains without an executive.
A departmental spokesman said: "The aim of the Memorandum of Understanding is to build a stronger working relationship to help deliver improved environmental outcomes and to support sustainable farming.
"Successful negotiations on the development of a memorandum of understanding between the Ulster Farmers' Union and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency have just concluded and arrangements are being put in place for it to be formally signed in the coming weeks.
"After this process, there will be further engagement with relevant stakeholders."
