Do you live near to an electricity substation? They are about the size of a filing cabinet and often placed behind a fence. Internally, they contain ‘Switchgear’ which is a mechanism for controlling and transmitting power. The switchgear must be kept bathed in oil, rather like a car engine, or it becomes very hot and explodes.
When these substations explode a plume of boiling oil is sent several hundred feet into the air. It then cools and descends landing on the roofs, windows, walls and gardens of the surrounding houses.
On 28 June 2018 the substation in Croft Road, Hastings exploded. Nearby was Mr and Mrs R’s fine Georgian house. Properties within 100 yards were covered in specks of burnt oil. The owners complained to the electricity company, UKPN. UKPN sent in a clean-up company who said ‘it was just one of those things’ and went around with buckets and detergent, and said that the weather would wash the oil away.
But Mr and Mrs R were not happy. Their 200 year old house had small black flecks of oil over its roof, walls, windows and garden. The garden was polluted by the oil. The grass and plants were covered in oil specks, the earth beneath had unavoidably absorbed some of the oil. How do you clean a 100 year old roof? How do you clean grass and vegetables?
Mr and Mrs R sued issued proceedings against UKPN in Hastings County Court. They used the strict liability principle of Rylands v Fletcher.
The Rylands v Fletcher duty operates in this way. If I (an electricity power company) bring onto my land something that might damage my neighbour’s property if it escapes – like boiling oil – I must ensure it does not get out. The word ‘ensure’ means what it says: do not let it get out. So, it is no defence to someone in the position of an electricity company who has boiling oil in its transformers to say, ‘Well, we did all we could’.
The case against UKPN settled and Mr and Mrs R received significant damages and their costs.
The had to compensate Mr and Mrs R for the following:
- The cost of a comprehensive clean up;
- The cost of replacing polluted soil;
- The cost of redecorating;
- The cost of remedial works (where practicable) to the roof.
If your property has been affected by something similar, don’t be fobbed off by apologies and promises to clean up. Take legal advice.
