Water companies can be sued for nuisance or trespass for dumping sewage regardless of whether there has been negligence or deliberate misconduct, the Supreme Court has held
Ruling in Manchester Ship Canal Company v United Utilities Water [2024] UKSC 22, seven justices unanimously held Manchester Ship can bring a private law claim against the water company.
Manchester Ship had disputed the water company’s right to dump foul water into the canal. The water company contended it could pollute the canal free of charge because the Water Industry Act 1991, which brought in water privatisation, barred Manchester Ship from bringing a private law claim in nuisance or trespass.
Giving the lead judgment, Lords Reed and Hodge said the starting point was to recognise ‘the owner of a watercourse, or a riparian owner, has a right of property in the watercourse’.
The argument that the 1991 Act deprives nuisance victims of the right of action at common law should be rejected for three reasons, Lords Reed and Hodge said. First, the 1991 Act is a consolidation statute and it is unlikely a statute of that nature made important changes to the law. Second, ‘The 1991 Act is detailed and elaborate. One would not expect that such a statute left an important change in the law to be a matter of implication.
‘The third and most important consideration is the principle of legality: that fundamental common law rights, such as rights of action to protect private property, are not taken to be abrogated by statute in the absence of express language or necessary implication.’
Emma Montlake, joint executive director, Environmental Law Foundation, which intervened in the case, said: ‘This was a “monster case” as characterised by lead counsel for the Manchester Ship Canal. Enormously complex, the outcome has the potential to be a game changer for communities up and down the land.’
