Field Staff
For the purpose of water pollution management, Northern Ireland is divided into nine areas (see map below). Most of these areas have three staff consisting of an Environmental Health (Rivers) Officer (EHRO) or Senior Water Quality Inspector (SWQI) and a number of Water Quality Inspectors (WQIs). These staff work on a full-time basis on behalf of Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) backed up by additional officers as required to provide a field service.
The Water Management Unit of NIEA relies on the purchase of external services to fulfil its statutory responsibilities under United Kingdom and European Union legislation. At present, the field service is purchased from seven separate agencies and provides approximately 39 field staff in total to undertake a wide range of duties ranging from pollution investigation to sampling.
The field staff, while provided from seven providers can broadly be considered in two bands:
- Staff from the four Group Environmental Health Committees and Belfast City Council undertake sampling, proactive pollution control and advice, Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (links to Office of Public Sector Information website)
consents, application processing, emergency pollution response, and enforcement. This work currently involves 28 full-time staff. - Staff from the Fisheries Conservancy Board (FCB) and the Loughs Agency (LA) undertake investigation into reports of water pollution (mainly from agricultural sources), sampling, proactive pollution control, and enforcement. FCB and LA provide approximately seven and five full time equivalent staff respectively.
