'THE POLLUTION of a man's character by libel or slander
is a matter personal to him. The pollution of a river may be pro- ductive of manifold mischief in varying degrees to many dif- ferent people.' With this judgement Lord Justice Jenkins has dismissed the appeal by a Durham Ironworks from an earlier decision by Mr. Justice Danckwerts. The original action against the firm, taken by a riparian owner, is still sub judice: the appeal concerned a counter charge by the firm that the riparian owner was being illegally 'maintained' by the Anglers' Co- operative Association. But whatever may be the rights and wrongs of the original case, it is satisfactory that river pollution has been formally indicted in principle by the Court of Appeal. Industrial firms have been able to vomit noxious effluents into rivers with impunity because the individual affected could not afford to bring an action against them. Had the Court of Appeal decided that an intervention of an Angling Association on his side constituted illegal 'maintenance,' the chances of successful actions in these cases would have been further diminished; as it is, the decision should encourage others to take up arms against polluters.
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