Mud group withdraws High Court challenge
CAMPAIGNERS against the dumping of mud from an English nuclear power station at a site off Cardiff have withdrawn their application for a High Court injunction on legal advice.
They now hope a debate in the National Assembly next week will result in the dumping licence held by energy giant EDF being withdrawn pending further tests on the sediment, which they fear could be radioactive and pose health risks.
The decision to withdraw the application was made after it was confirmed that no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was carried out in relation to the disposal of the mud from Hinkley Point nuclear power station in the Severn Estuary off Cardiff.
Continuing the High Court case would expose Super Furry Animals keyboard player Cian Ciaran, in whose name the injunction application was made, to the risk of lifechanging legal costs because there is a potential political remedy.
The Senedd motion calling for a suspension of the dumping licence and further tests will be moved jointly by the Conservative and Plaid Cymru groups, with Independent AM Neil McEvoy calling for an EIA to be undertaken.
Mr Ciaran said: “This Labour government has taken the Welsh people for granted and has risked the health of the nation. For me the core message of the campaign remains unchanged; the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence and therefore the precautionary principle should dictate a rethink. We will continue to seek the answers the Welsh public deserve.”
Mr McEvoy said: “This was always a David v Goliath case. Cian took the brave decision to put his name to a legal challenge against a massive, billion-pound energy giant. He’s risked everything for the safety of Wales. Through the case we have now established that Welsh Labour ministers are responsible for this whole debacle.
“They’ve risked the health of all of us by refusing to get the mud properly tested.” A spokesman for EDF Energy said: “The claimant’s decision to drop the case is good news for a project that is vital for the UK’s energy future and provides work for 25 Welsh companies and 1,000 Welsh workers.
“EDF did everything that it was requested to do when it applied for a licence to dredge and deposit mud in the Severn Estuary.
“The mud is no different to mud found anywhere else up and down the coast and it has been thoroughly tested by independent experts, who confirmed it poses no threat to human health or the environment. The sediment is not classed as radioactive under UK law.”
Both the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales, the quango that issued the dumping licence, insist the mud poses no health risks.