Legal Challenge to Hinkley mud dumping plans

Posted: 21st January 2022

Hinkley Point dredging plan for Portishead faces legal challenge. Plans to dump hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sediment from Hinkley Point into the Bristol Channel at Portishead face a legal challenge. Environmental groups represented by Tarian Hafren say the Marine Management Organisation unlawfully varied EDF Energy’s licence to deposit dredged material at the Severn Estuary Marine Protection Area. The disposal site is close to Portbury Wharf Salt Marsh, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and part of the Severn Estuary Special Protection Area. Tarian Hafren argues that the MMO did not have the statutory power to change the licence for dredging to include dumping, did not give adequate reasons for doing so, failed to  examine the potential impact of the dredging on marine life, and ignored a  less harmful method of waste disposal. High Court judge Beverley Lang ruled that the grounds for a judicial review are arguable and the claim will be heard this spring. Cian Ciaran for Tarian Hafren said: “The WelshNational Marine Plan accepts no dumping in the Welsh half of the estuary, but the Welsh authorities failed to press MMO to comply on the English side. “As Geiger Bay, we established at court in 2018 that the Welsh authorities were wrong to license dumping near Cardiff. Let’s now compel  the MMO to respect the protected status that’s needed for both fish stocks and wildlife.” Somerset Live 20th Jan 2022  https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/hinkley-point-dredging-plan-portishead-6514361 Weston Mercury 19th Jan 2022  https://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/dredging-waste-portishead-challenge-8632044