Contaminated land case study - Bawtry

The House of Lords has overruled the High Court to end a lengthy legal battle over who should pay the £700,000 clean-up costs, for the contamination of the former gasworks site at Bawtry in South Yorkshire.

The site, now occupied by private houses, was identified as contaminated by the local authority back in 2003 and remediation costs of £700,000 were incurred by the Environment Agency. Investigations of the area revealed coal tar, a by-product of the gas-making process and pollutants including nickel, that had contaminated the soil and groundwater.

The Environment Agency had originally claimed in the High Court that the previous owners of the land, National Grid Gas (NGG), a subsidiary of the National Grid group, was the 'appropriate person' under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and therefore responsible for the clean up costs. It argued that NGG should be liable on the basis that the contamination was caused by one or more of its statutory predecessors.

An Environment Agency spokeswoman said it was disappointed with the outcome of the House of Lords appeal, which means it will be the taxpayer, rather than National Grid Gas, who are liable, but added: "The EA previously decided the homeowners at the site should not have to make contribution to the costs and this decision is not affected by the legal proceedings."

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