Health and Safety : local authorities and remediation - do it safely or else

Local authorities need to be aware of their duties in relation to contaminated sites following the High Court decision in Corby Group Litigation v Corby District Council. A breach of those duties may lead to a significant claim for damages against a local authority.

The case concerned birth defects in a group of children born between 1986 and 1999. Their births followed an extensive remediation project carried out by Corby Borough Council (CBC) on land acquired from British Steel. The claimants alleged that the birth defects had been caused as a result of harmful substances generated by the reclamation works and spread throughout Corby.

The judge held that the land reclamation programme was not carried out safely and in accordance with best practices at the time for the management and disposal of contaminated waste. Any competent local authority should have been aware of the potential harm to members of the public from dust generated at a site such as Corby and should have taken active steps to ensure that dust was not generated either on-site or by transportation of materials from the site.

CBC was held liable in public nuisance, negligence and breach of statutory duty subject to issues of causation being established in later proceedings by individual claimants.

In light of the judgment, local authorities should:

• ensure that appropriate risk assessments and due diligence are carried out before purchasing any site or carrying out any work on it;
• take appropriate precautions (in light of all the circumstances) if work is to be carried out on a contaminated site. Consideration should be given to those working on-site and those potentially affected off-site; and
• ensure individuals with relevant experience are used in reclamation operations involving contaminated sites.

A more detailed analysis of the High Court decision is available here.

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