Stop the stink
Quarry gas ‘poisoning’ Mathew, 5
A LITTLE boy’s family have begun a legal battle against the regulator of a rubbish site they claim is poisoning him.
Lawyers for Mathew Richards, five, say there is a “public health emergency” around the landfill from corrosive, eggy hydrogen sulphide emissions.
The village of Silverdale, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs, has been labelled the smelliest in Britain over the stench and residents complain of sleeplessness and breathing difficulties.
Their Stop the Stink campaign is backed by US environmentalist Erin Brockovich, who was played by Julia Roberts in an Oscarwinning Hollywood film in 2000.
Mathew, who had chronic lung disease as a baby, lives half a mile from Walleys Quarry, which his mother Beckie believes has made his condition worse.
The family are seeking a mandatory court order for the Environment Agency (EA) to take “effective measures” in a two-day judicial review application at the High Court in London.
EA figures have previously shown hydrogen sulphide levels at the Silverdale site exceeded World Health Organisation guidelines at certain points. Lawyers accuse the EA of failing to take measures and breaching Mathew’s rights to life.
They say Mathew has a three to five-year window of opportunity to “maximise growth of normal lung tissue and recover damage caused by his pre-term birth and exposure to pollution”.
His barrister, IanWise QC, said: “Suboptimal recovery will likely cause Mathew to develop chronic pulmonary disease, which will dramatically shorten his life expectancy.”
Consultant respiratory paediatrician Dr Ian Sinha said landfill conditions posed a “real and immediate risk” to Mathew’s life.
Lawyers for the EA deny there is a public health emergency at the quarry. They said the agency had taken “very substantial steps” at the site and “continues to keep matters under review”.
Mr Justice Fordham is expected to give his ruling at a later date.