A young girl, living close to a waste disposal site operated by Hinton Organics Wessex Ltd, has failed in her bid to judicially review a number of decisions taken by the Environment Agency (EA). The High Court rejected the girl's application which concerned the alleged emission of bioaerosols, arising from the disposal and/or composting of organic waste at Hinton Organics' waste disposal site.
Concerns among residents living near Hinton Organics resulted in the EA being invited to investigate levels of bioaerosols at and near the site. However, the EA chose not to do so. Furthermore, the EA decided to renew Hinton Organics' permit before receiving confirmation from the local authority that Hinton Organics was operating within the ambit of relevant planning permissions. The rationality of these decisions formed the basis of the claim before the Court.
The Court found that although there were indications that odour was emanating from the site, and where there were odours emanating from the site then there may well also be bioaerosols in the air, the question was whether bioaerosols were getting into the atmosphere at a level which generates risk. The EA chose not to investigate this, taking the view that it was an entirely hypothetical problem, and having seen two separate independent risk assessments, carried out in accordance with its own practices, which showed no cause for concern.
Although it was accepted that the Agency had the power to undertake the type of investigation called for (under Section 89 of the Environment Act 1995), the Court held that there was no basis upon which it could be argued that the approach of the Agency was irrational.
With respect to the Agency's decision to renew the permit, the Court found that the planning authority had yet to decide whether there was any breach of planning control, and had only at that stage initiated discussions in order to determine whether that was the position.
In addressing the question of whether it was arguably irrational for the EA to await the outcome of the local authority's decision before itself deciding whether to revoke the permit, the Court held that the EA's approach was "an entirely sensible, pragmatic and rational one" and that it was "simply not arguable to suggest that the EA had been irrational in its approach to this question".
The text of the judgement of the High Court may be accessed via the link below:-
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2008/2404.html
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