The plaintiff’s land was next to the river Chess. The defendant had for more than twenty years discharged refuse from his paper factory into the Chess upstream of the plaintiff. Latterly a change in the manufacture had led to a different and greater discharge of refuse. The plaintiff sought an order restraining the discharge.
Held: The defendant had acquired an easement. That right was to discharge such refuse as was generally produced by the reasonable and proper course of paper manufacturing using whatever materials were proper for the purpose. The claim was dismissed.
Lord Cairns LJ indicated though a change of materials had been involved in the business of the dominant owner, the servient owner had cause for complaint if he could show ‘a greater amount of pollution and injury arising from the use of this new material’ in order to establish a breach of his rights .
Judges:
Lord Cairns LJ
Citations:
[1867] 2 Ch App 790, [1867] 31 JP 821
Land, Environment
Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.223974
