Food giant faces threat of payouts to residents over River Wye pollution

One of the UK’s biggest food producers is facing legal action over pollution in the River Wye, which campaigners believe has been damaged by intensive poultry farming in the region.

Law firm Leigh Day is bringing a claim against Avara Food Limited, which supplies chicken to some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets and restaurants, alleging that industrial scale poultry farming is polluting the river and its surrounding land.

It will argue that Avara, the region’s largest poultry processor, should clean up the river and pay compensation to those who have been affected by the pollution.

Avara branded the case an “opportunistic attempt to profit from a serious environmental issue” that was “not supported by evidence or expert opinion”.

People and businesses living within a 4,000 sq km area in Powys, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire can join the action if they feel they have been affected.

This could include swimmers, canoeists, walkers, anglers and businesses such as those working in tourism, hospitality and leisure, the legal team said.

Leigh Day partner Oliver Holland told i the firm estimates that tens of thousands of people could be eligible to join the lawsuit. He said individuals and businesses could be compensated “thousands” if successful, depending on the individual circumstances of each claim.

The River Wye, which stretches for 250km from Plynlimon in mid-Wales to the Severn Estuary, was downgraded to “unfavourable – declining” status by Natural England last year, just two stages away from the river being listed as “destroyed”.

The region has been at the forefront of a major expansion of the chicken industry in the UK, which campaigners argue is responsible for the river’s decline.

Farmers argue other sources of pollution, such as sewage from wastewater treatment works, must also be held responsible.

Avara has argued that it does not directly pollute the river as the birds in its supply chain are housed indoors, meaning their manure only reaches land when it is sold to other farmers as fertiliser. It recently stopped selling poultry manure from its farms to others in the Wye catchment.

It claims its supply chain generated 800 tonnes of phosphorus in 2022, which it said accounts for under 15 per cent of the phosphorus in the region from agriculture.

Between 2013-17 the number of birds in Herefordshire rose by one third and researchers estimate the Wye catchment area now houses over 20 million birds at any one time.

Intensive farming can be damaging to rivers due to the generation of high quantities of phosphorus-rich manure, which can wash into watercourses from fields. Some farms sell this manure as fertiliser, which is spread on fields elsewhere and again is at risk of washing into rivers.

‘My takings have dropped because of the state of the river’

A small number of people have already joined the claim against Avara.

They include 55-year-old Peter Redding who moved to Hereford partly due to the appeal of swimming, paddling and canoeing on the River Wye.

“I used to go down every day and paddle for two hours, it was really good for my mental health. To get out there and immerse myself in nature did me good. But now I find I get off the river angry,” he said.

Peter Redding has joined the claim against Avara (Photo: Peter Redding)

Adam Fisher, who runs Angling Dreams, which offers guided fishing trips on the Wye, has also joined the claim.

“My takings have dropped because of the state of the river. My customers now choose to fish at different times of year to avoid the algae blooms and stench. They choose to come in the autumn or not at all any more,” he said.

High phosphorus levels are bad for water quality and can cause algal blooms, which deplete oxygen levels, killing off aquatic life.

Avara, which is a UK subsidiary of US multinational Cargill Plc, published a roadmap last year, which it said would ensure the farms in its supply chain no longer contribute to excess phosphate levels in the River Wye.

But Leigh Day argues that the firm is responsible for the damage that has already been caused and must therefore compensate those who have been affected by the pollution.

The firm first annouced it was considering a claim against Avara last year and has today confirmed the action will definitely go ahead, with plans to file the suit later this year.

Avara’s parent company, Cargill, has faced a similar claims in the US, in which a judge found the firm polluted the Illinois River by spreading chicken manure of its land.

But Mr Holland said this was the first case of its kind in the UK and could open the door to other similar actions due to the scale of water pollution problems in this country.

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“This destruction of one the UK’s most beautiful natural areas cannot continue, which is why we are bringing this legal action,” he said.

The claim is being supported by the charity River Action, which is currently bringing a separate claim against the Environment Agency arguing that the watchdog has failed to enforce regulations in the Wye catchment area.

Chair and founder of River Action UK, Charles Watson, said: “With around a quarter of the country’s chickens now being reared in the catchment of the River Wye, the waste emitting from this totally unsustainable concentration of poultry production has blighted communities across the region.”

A spokesperson for Avara said: “This is a year-old, opportunistic attempt to profit from a serious environmental issue. It has no merit and is not supported by evidence or expert opinion.

“It ignores the long-standing use of phosphate-rich fertiliser by arable farms as well as the clear scientific data showing the issue of excess phosphorus considerably predates the growth of poultry farms in the Wye catchment. We are confident that there is no case to defend but, if forced to do so, we would pursue Leigh Day to recover any costs we incur.”