Silverdale quarry smell: High Court legal challenge to begin

A community blighted by noxious smells from a landfill site has come together for a High Court legal challenge against the Environment Agency (EA).

The action about Walleys Quarry, in Staffordshire, is being brought by the family of a boy, five, with breathing problems who live near the site.

Mathew Richards' doctors say hydrogen sulphide gas from the site has worsened his underlying health issues.

The EA and operator Walleys Quarry Ltd say work continues to address issues.

Thousands of residents have complained of sleeplessness and breathing difficulties and claim it has got worse since the beginning of this year.

EA figures have previously shown how hydrogen sulphide levels recorded at the Silverdale site have, at points, exceeded World Health Organization guidelines.

Hydrogen sulphide is a poisonous, corrosive gas with an eggy smell.

Mathew, who had chronic lung disease as a baby, lives half a mile from Walleys Quarry and his family believe it has made his condition worse.

"The first three years of his life, we were just [in] hospital, continuously, with chest problems, bronchiolitis, consistent cough," his mother Rebecca Currie said.

"If we lose I am going to be forced out of my home because there is no way I can keep Mathew around here."

The family's case is part of a judicial review set to take place at the court into the EA's enforcement of the operator Walleys Quarry Ltd.

Campaigners want an immediate stop to landfill activities at the site and for the site to be made safe.

Dr Ian Sinha, from Alder Hey Children's Hospital, in Liverpool, has prepared a report for the judicial review.

He said environmental exposure to H2S (hydrogen sulphide) was significantly impairing Mathew's current health and quality of life and said continued exposure "will subsequently reduce his life expectancy".

His report said the levels of hydrogen sulphide from the landfill were high enough to cause airway and lung problems, which poses a particular risk to the elderly and the 1,773 children under the age of five living in the area.

"There is an unexpectedly excessive burden of respiratory illness and death in Silverdale," he added.

An EA spokesperson said it had been working in partnership with Public Health England, along with Staffordshire County Council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council since March to understand risks posed by the landfill.

"We don't want the community to continue to suffer from impacts of odour from Walleys Quarry," it said.

"That's why we will continue to do the best we can with the powers we have to bring the odour under control."Nigel Bowen, CEO of Walleys Quarry Ltd, added following the report from Dr Sinha, it "moved quickly" to seek independent medical opinion and will present the findings at the forthcoming hearing.

"Walleys Quarry Ltd remains committed to doing everything that is within our power to help remedy the situation as soon as possible, working in conjunction with the Environment Agency and other stakeholders," he said.

"We have every sympathy for the health of Mathew Richards, and the well-being of his family."