Environment Agency wins appeal over landfill site case

A mother had taken action over Walleys Quarry in Newcastle-under-Lyme amid concerns over the health of her five-year-old son.

Stop the Stink demonstrators at the Walleys Quarry Landfill site at Silverdale, Staffordshire, in August (Richard Vernalls/PA) (PA Wire)

The Environment Agency has won a Court of Appeal challenge over a Staffordshire landfill site accused of emitting noxious gases that risk shortening the life of a five-year-old boy.

Rebecca Currie, who lives near Walleys Quarry in Silverdale, Newcastle-under-Lyme took legal action against the regulator of the site on behalf of her son, Mathew Richards, due to concerns over his health.

Lawyers representing Mathew said there is a “public health emergency” in the vicinity of the quarry, arguing that hydrogen sulphide emissions are affecting “hundreds and probably thousands of local people”.

The High Court was told in August that Mathew is a vulnerable child, born prematurely at 26 weeks with a chronic lung disease and he needed oxygen support for 19 months.

In September, Mr Justice Fordham made a declaration that the Environment Agency (EA) “must implement” Public Health England’s advice to reduce concentrations of hydrogen sulphide in the local area to one part per billion, less than an eighth of the level that can be smelled, by January 2022.

Rebecca Currie took legal action on behalf of her son Mathew Richards (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Wire)

The EA challenged the judge’s ruling at the Court of Appeal this month, arguing it was not a case where any court intervention was “justified or appropriate”.

The regulator claimed there was evidence that it was taking measures to respond to Public Health England (now the UK Health Security Agency) recommendations.

Sir Keith Lindblom – senior president of tribunals – sitting with Lord Justice Lewis and Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing, allowed the appeal at a brief judgment hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Friday.

He said the effect was that Mr Justice Fordham’s declaration was “set aside forthwith”, adding that written reasons for Friday’s decision would come at a later date.

Judges also dismissed a cross appeal brought by Mathew’s lawyers arguing that Mr Justice Fordham was wrong not to declare the EA was in breach of its obligations over the boy’s human rights.

In written arguments, Timothy Mould QC, for the EA, said it did not challenge the judge’s findings over Mathew’s “vulnerable state of health”, nor the need to take steps so that gas emissions return “as soon as reasonably practicable to acceptable levels for the protection of public health in the local community”.

He added that the regulator had been “clear” that it “had taken, was taking and would continue to take the necessary and appropriate practical measures” to reduce emissions levels.

Mr Mould said there was “no evidence” that actions it was requiring the site operator – Walleys Quarry Ltd – to take were “not the right measures, or would not be effective”.

He said it was for the EA as the “designated, specialist statutory regulator”, and not the court, “to evaluate and to determine the further action needed”.

Mr Mould added that Mr Justice Fordham’s declaration “effectively” required the EA “to achieve mandatory outcomes in a field of regulatory action that is fundamentally risk-based and where the evidence before the court did not establish that such outcomes were necessarily capable of being achieved in the terms declared by the judge”.

Mathew’s lawyers said in written arguments that the EA appeal was “without merit”, that it was not a case of “judicial overreach”, and that the regulator had previously “not come close to demonstrating that it had done everything within its powers necessary to avoid the risk to Mathew’s life”.

An EA spokesman said after Friday’s ruling that it had required the site operator to make “substantial changes” and that it was “determined” to protect the local community.

He added: “Following our interventions there has been a clear downward trend in hydrogen sulphide levels recorded at our air quality monitoring stations in recent months, with most sites showing concentrations below the WHO (World Health Organisation) annoyance threshold most of the time – and three of our four monitoring sites showing concentrations are now below the long-term (lifetime) health-based guidance value.

“These improvements do not diminish in any way our continued focus on bringing those emissions under control and ensuring they remain so.”

Welcoming the ruling, a spokesperson for Walleys Quarry Ltd said: “We have worked tirelessly from the outset with the EA in proposing to them and subsequently funding viable and innovative solutions to any genuine issues around the site.

“We remain committed to working with the EA, continuing to lead on proposing solutions and play our active role in resolving any issues to the satisfaction of all parties.”