An environmental group has launched legal action against Havering Council amid claims that a lack of action over an illegal landfill site is causing residents to breathe toxic, polluted air.
A toxic fire at Launders Lane in Rainham, east London, has routinely burned in the summer months for two decades.
Residents have complained that the site has caused them to develop breathing problems and coughing fits, while local GPs have blamed high levels of respiratory and lung diseases in the area on the site.
Soil analysis conducted in November 2023 showed that the land could contain asbestos, as well as plastic bags, polystyrene and asphalt.
Ruth Kettle-Frisby was one of three local mums who founded environmental group Clear the Air in Havering, which has issued a legal claim through law firm Mischon de Reya challenging Havering Council’s decision not to designate the landfill as contaminated land.
When councils make these decisions, they are obliged by law to take certain things into account, including whether the site causes or is likely to cause significant harm to health, the law firm claims.
But a pre-action letter sent to the Council on October 10 alleges that the Council made several “legal errors” when making its decision.
Ms Kettle-Frisby said: “Rainham is one of the most deprived areas of London and nothing has been done to stop the fires and to protect desperate Rainham residents from harm.
“Rainham residents describe themselves as ‘the forgotten people of Havering’; their lives wilfully put at risk, paying for negligence with their lives.”
Cancer patients ‘struggling to breathe’
She said residents had reported not wanting to go outside at all, while cancer patients complained of struggling to breathe and being forced to close all their windows.
Other residents have told of waking in the night “in terror thinking their house is burning down”, while parents of children with asthma describe constantly being on high alert, she said.
“This is just not acceptable on any level,” she added.
If the landfill is legally designated to be contaminated land, then the council and the Environment Agency will have specific legal duties to ensure the site is cleaned up, according to Mishcon de Reya. They will be required to serve a notice on the person responsible requiring them to remediate the land
It would also allow the council to clean up the land themselves if the landowner does not cooperate, while the costs can be recouped as much as possible afterwards.
Many Londoners don't know that there is a fire that has been burning on and off for 20 years in East London. Residents of Launders Lane suffer recurring fires throughout the summer. We need to see action now. pic.twitter.com/Sst2r10J4m
— Hina Bokhari AM 🔶 (@HinaBokhariLD) January 19, 2024
The council would also be able to prosecute or commence civil proceedings against the person responsible – including holding company directors personally liable.
Ms Kettle-Frisby said the claim was a “huge step forward” and claimed that the council and landowner had “batted responsibility back and forth”.
She added: “The council will not be able to ignore this legal challenge and must face up to the reality of this dire situation and take responsibility where it’s due.”
If the claim is successful, the Council may have to remake their decision on whether the land is contaminated based on a “much more thorough and comprehensive assessment of the evidence and risks of the toxic air pollution from the fires to the health and safety of local residents”, she added.
The funds for the claim were raised by Clear The Air using the CrowdJustice website and Law for Change, a fund focused on access to justice for impact cases.
Community could be ‘back where it started’
Emily Nicholson, partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya which is working with Clear The Air In Havering in their legal action, said: “It is clear that without this legal action the situation would not change.
“Only last month the council withdrew an abatement notice against the landowner of the site, citing a new verbal agreement that the landowner would take some unspecified steps to seek to prevent the fires before April 2025.
“As it is understood, the council and residents have no means to enforce this agreement, so if the steps taken are not sufficient to stop the fires then the community is back where it started once more, and facing yet another summer of fires on the site.”
Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, said: “We completely understand and sympathise with residents' concerns about the ongoing issues at Launders Lane. This is why our Administration has done more in the past year or so than previous Administrations have over the last two decades, to try and resolve this long-standing issue.
"It should be noted - as it has been stated numerous times before - that this is private land and it is the landowner who is primarily responsible for taking practical steps to prevent fires taking place.”
He said the Council was continuing to push the landowner to take more urgent action and that a meeting between the landowner, the London Fire Brigade and other experts had taken place to identify short/medium term measures that could be put in place to reduce the frequency and impact of the fires.
“This was followed by a site visit and there will be further engagement to find a resolution,” he added.
“We will continue to do everything we can to address the ongoing issues on this site and to push for a solution which suits the local community."
