Contamination of land by the overflow of radioactive materials from a pond, led to damages for the cost of repair, and also the permanent diminution of the value in the land from physical damage.
Held: The Court dismissed the appeal of the defendants from the order of the trial judge (Carnwath J) awarding the plaintiffs damages for the breach of duty imposed by section 7(1)(a) of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 on the licensee of a nuclear site to ensure that no occurrence involving nuclear matter caused damage to any property of any person other than the licensee. Damage within the Act occurred if there was some alteration in the physical characteristics of the land caused by radioactive properties which rendered it less useful or less valuable. Aldous LJ said that the addition of plutonium to the topsoil rendered the characteristics of the marshland different and, further, that the result of the addition was that the marshland became less useful and less valuable. The plaintiffs’ land was less valuable because the estate was unsaleable until the contaminated soil had been removed and less useful because the level of contamination was such that the topsoil of the marsh had to be excavated and removed from the site because the level of radioactivity exceeded that which was allowed by the regulations. In short, the cause of action arose because the amenity or utility of the plaintiffs’ land was impaired by contamination from the plutonium.
Judges:
Simon Brown, Aldous, Chadwick LJJ
Citations:
Times 16-Jun-1998, Gazette 22-Jul-1998, [1998] EWCA Civ 945, [1999] 2 WLR 295, [1999] Ch 289, [1998] 3 All ER 385, [1998] EGCS 93, [1999] Env LR 22
Links:
Statutes:
Nuclear Installations Act 1965 7(1)(a)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Blue Circle Industries Plc v Ministry of Defence ChD 11-Dec-1996
Damages for escape of nuclear waste to include diminution of land value. Radioactive pollution of land following such an overflow is physical damage. . .
Cited by:
Appealed to – Blue Circle Industries Plc v Ministry of Defence ChD 11-Dec-1996
Damages for escape of nuclear waste to include diminution of land value. Radioactive pollution of land following such an overflow is physical damage. . .
Cited – Transco plc v Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council HL 19-Nov-2003
Rylands does not apply to Statutory Works
The claimant laid a large gas main through an embankment. A large water supply pipe nearby broke, and very substantial volumes of water escaped, causing the embankment to slip, and the gas main to fracture.
Held: The rule in Rylands v Fletcher . .
Cited – Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Williams and Another CA 3-Jul-2018
Japanese Knotweed escape is nuisance
The defendant appealed against an order as to its liability in private nuisance for the escape of Japanese Knotweed from its land onto the land of the claimant neighbours. No physical damage to properties had yet been shown, but the reduction in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Environment, Nuisance
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.78452
