In what could be an unprecedented ruling the U.K. Supreme Court has said that the region’s water supplier United Utilities can in principle be liable for discharging sewage into the Manchester Ship Canal.
The judges ruled that United Utilities network included over a 100 outlets including sewers,sewage works and pumping stations into the length of the canal which runs from Manchester to the Mersey Estuary
“Discharges of foul water from the outfalls could be avoided if United Utilities invested in improved infrastructure and treatment“ said the ruling
The background to the proceedings is a dispute between the parties over whether United Utilities requires the consent of the Canal Company in order to discharge foul water into the canal, and must therefore pay the Canal Company for a licence, or can pollute the canal without the consent of the Canal Company and free of charge,
The Canal Company is barred by the 1991 Act from bringing actions in nuisance or trespass.
However, the ruling said that the appeal has a wider importance.
“The implication of the judgments in the courts below is that, absent an allegation of negligence or deliberate wrongdoing, no owner of any watercourse or body of water can bring any claim based on nuisance or trespass against any sewerage undertaker in respect of polluting discharges into the water, however frequent and voluminous the discharges may be, and however damaging they may be to the owner’s commercial or other interests or to the owner’s ability to use or enjoy its property. In view of that wider importance, the court has permitted the Environmental Law Foundation to make submissions as intervener.”
The ruling could now pave the way for the public and businesses to sue water Companies for polluting our waters
The Good Law Project, described the judgment as a “landmark” decision. Jennine Walker, the group’s interim head of legal, said: “This is a sensational victory and a real boost to the clean-up of our rivers, waterways and seas.
“It gives people stronger legal tools to turn the tide on the sewage scandal and hold water companies to account, after our toothless and underfunded regulators have failed to do so.”
