First High Court hearing for “biggest ever” river pollution claim

The legal claim is being brought against industrial chicken producer Avara Foods Limited and its subsidiary Freemans of Newent Limited, as well as the region’s sewerage operator, Welsh Water.

The High Court is scheduled to conduct a case management hearing on Monday (27 April) in an effort to plan how the litigation will advance.

Leigh Day Solicitors, which is representing the claimants on a no-win-no-fee basis, has described the claim as the “biggest ever to be brought in the UK over environmental pollution in the UK”.

According to the law firm, more than 4,500 have joined the claim so far.

They allege that the chicken producers' operations alongside Welsh Water’s management of the sewerage system have resulted in widespread pollution in the three rivers. All three defendants have denied the allegations.

They argue that pollution has been caused by water run-off from farmland containing high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen and bacteria from poultry manure spread on the land as fertiliser.

The claim also alleges that bacteria and nutrient pollution in the rivers have been caused by the discharge of sewage directly into the rivers from Welsh Water sewerage systems.

At the hearing on Monday, the firm is set to argue that the community should be given a longer opportunity to join the environmental legal action and that the poultry defendants should be ordered to disclose details of the locations of their industrial poultry operations across the region.

Leigh Day partner Oliver Holland, who leads the claim, said: “There has been a great deal of effort put in by the community and environmental campaigners to help drive the proceedings to this point, showing the strength of feeling from those involved about the state of the rivers.

"They feel that the government and regulators have not done enough to prevent the deterioration of these rivers, leaving court action as their only option to pursue environmental justice."

A spokesperson for Avara Foods said the allegations "are misconceived and reflect a misunderstanding of both our business and the wider factors affecting river health".

The company said it is confident in its position, and believes that the claim “is unsupported by any proper scientific basis".

It pointed to Environment Agency data that it said shows "that there has been a downward trend in phosphorus levels which are now understood to be lower than they have been since the early 1990s".

It also argued that independent research "makes clear" that river health is influenced by multiple factors that are unrelated to our operations.

A Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water spokesperson meanwhile said that protecting and improving the environment remains a "top priority", adding: "Between 2020-2025 we invested more than £76m on reducing nutrient levels to improve water quality on the Wye, Lugg and Usk rivers. Ofwat have allocated us a further £87m to invest between 2025-2030 to continue this important work.

“We believe this case is misguided and risks diverting time and resources away from the shared goal of improving river water quality. Any financial penalties would directly reduce the funding available to invest in essential services and deliver the environmental improvements our customers expect.

“Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water doesn’t have shareholders and pays no dividends.

“The revenue we receive from customer bills is our sole source of funding for maintaining services and upgrading our infrastructure.

“Without profit-driven pressures, any financial surpluses are reinvested for the benefit of our customers, to improve services, support vulnerable households and address environmental challenges.”

Adam Carey