Landfill site ordered to reduce ‘foul-smelling’ fumes after mum wins court fight
A mum and her son who complained about the ‘foul smelling’ gases being emitted by a landfill site close to their home have won a High Court battle.
Rebecca Currie, 41, feared the level of gas emissions in the air could shorten the life of son Matthew Richards, five, because of his chronic lung condition.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the boy started a legal case against the Environment Agency due to the ‘stomach-wrenching smell like rotten eggs’ being emitted from the landfill.
Neighbours of the site in Newcastle-under-Lyme complained of headaches and nosebleeds which they attributed to the smell from the quarry.
A judge has now ruled in favour of the pair in what’s been called a ‘David and Goliath’ case and has ordered the agency to reduce the levels of emissions in the local area.
Lawyers argued the hydrogen sulphide (HS2) emissions are affecting ‘hundreds and probably thousands of local people’ and called it a ‘public health emergency.’
Matthew, who was born 26 weeks premature, has suffered from chronic lung disease and needed oxygen support for 19 months.
His doctor warned the gases from the site were affecting his recovery and could shorten his life as he was at risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the future.
He lives with his mum 400m from the site and the pair feared they might have to move unless something was done.
At the High Court, Mr Justice Fordham declared the EA ‘must implement’ Public Health England’s advice to reduce concentrations of hydrogen sulphide in the local area to one part per billion by January 2022. This is less than an eighth of the level that can be smelled.
Ms Currie urged parents to stand up for their children, saying: ‘If you’ve got a child and you need to fight, fight. Don’t back off from it. Do what I’ve done – fight for it.’
She added: ‘This decision today, it’s going to give Mathew and the community fresh air again. Not what we’ve been breathing in.
‘Now I can stay in my own home because I was being forced out. Obviously I couldn’t let Mathew live there any longer if the answer hadn’t gone in his favour today.’
The court previously heard the EA, which is monitoring the site’s air-quality levels, had taken ‘very substantial steps’ at the landfill site and ‘continues to keep matters under review’.
Public Health England’s position is that ‘currently any risk to long-term health is likely to be small, but a risk cannot completely be excluded if exposure were to continue at current levels’.
Mr Justice Fordham said it was ‘not necessary or appropriate’ to say whether there was a breach by the EA of its legal obligations.
But giving his judgement, he said: ‘Based on all the evidence, about Mathew, and about the emissions, and about the implications of the emissions for Mathew, I am satisfied that there is a direct effect on Mathew’s home, family life and private life from adverse effects of severe environmental pollution.’
The judge added: ‘It will require pressing and ongoing action which will, in my judgment, make a very real difference so far as the air which Mathew, and his community, breathes is concerned.’
Mathew’s solicitor Rebekah Carrier said they were ‘delighted’ with the decision after the ruling.
She said: ‘This is truly a ‘David and Goliath’ case where a mother has faced up to the Government agency which is supposed to protect public health and yet has failed so badly to do so.’
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