UK's biggest ever environmental pollution claim reaches High Court

UK's biggest ever environmental pollution claim reaches High Court1 hour agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJonah Fisher, Environment correspondentGetty ImagesNatural England has described the condition of the River Wye as "declining"Steffan Messenger,Wales environment correspondentandNicola Goodwin,BBC Midlands Investigations teamOne of the UK's largest chicken producers and a water company will be in the High Court on Monday accused of polluting the rivers Wye, Lugg and Usk.More than 4,500 people who live or work near the rivers along the Welsh-English border have signed up take part in what's being seen as a landmark case against Avara Foods and Welsh Water.Their lawyers say it's the biggest case ever brought in the UK over environmental pollution in terms of the number of claimants and its geographical spread. Avara, which dominates chicken farming in the area, and Welsh Water, have respectively called the claims "misconceived" and "misguided".The River Wye is one of the UK's longest and most celebrated rivers. But in recent years those living nearby have complained that it regularly turns green in the summer and has become smelly and slimy.The group's legal claim blames the spreading of chicken manure on farmers' fields, and also sewage spills. It demands that action be taken to improve the state of the rivers, and compensation be paid to those whose lives and businesses have been affected.The River Wye is one the UK's longest rivers and its catchment area is home to a large number of industrial chicken farms.The case has its first procedural hearing at the High Court in London on Monday and Justine Evans the lead claimant will be there."That just isn't what this river should look like and feel like and smell like" Ms Evans, a wildlife filmmaker, told BBC News on the banks of the Wye, not far from her home. "There's been systemic failure going on. And so in light o...