A landmark case has made its way to the High Court, as more than 4,500 people have signed up to take legal action against Avara Foods, one of the UK's leading chicken producers, and Welsh Water. The companies are being sued for negligence, causing private and public nuisance, and even trespass where the rivers have been affected on a claimant's property.
As reported by the BBC, the claimants state that increased spread of chicken manure on farmers' fields and sewage spills have caused the quality of the water in the rivers Wye, Lugg, and Usk to drastically go down over the course of recent years.
"That just isn't what this river should look like and feel like and smell like. There's been systemic failure going on. And so in light of that, it seemed like the only course of action is to take legal action and make polluters pay," said lead claimant Justine Evans to the BBC.
While it is the farmers who spread the chicken manure across fields near the river, which caused nutrients to wash down into the rivers and cause the water to turn green as part of "algal blooming," it is the companies that are being held responsible.
"The poultry companies that are being sued in this claim knew what the outcome of their operations were going to be when they expanded the poultry production in this area," said Celine O'Donovan, one of the lawyers for Leigh Day, the legal firm representing the claimants' case on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Avara Foods and Welsh Water deny the allegations. Avara called them "misconceived," saying the company was "confident in our position and believe the claim is unsupported by any proper scientific basis." Welsh Water said it has invested £76 million on reducing nutrient levels on the rivers Wye, Lugg, and Usk, and plans to spend £87 million more from 2025 until 2030.