Neighbours Filled Ditch and Contaminated our Land

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KC31

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We have been fortunate enough to buy own yard, having rented it for a number of years. We are now doing all the hard work to make it perfect. We couldn't work out why our land has been flooding so badly and hadn't done previously. I got a ground specialist in who has walked the perimeter and discovered that our neighbours, have not only filled the ditch, on their side, but pushed down fencing, uprooted trees and man made a lagoon, pushing all the waste that hasn't gone into the ditch against our fencing. This has pushed the water onto our property and into our neighbours, flooding both of us. Not only this, the water is clearly toxic as my old boy took seriously ill last year and when he was admitted to the vet hospital all they could put the cause down to was toxins in his system, no idea how they got there and that was after he had been on that paddock. My questions is do i take this up with the Environemnt Agency? The neighbours are a commercial business and are a nightmare to deal with,we are currently waiting for them to call us back, but we have had run ins in the past and they just seem to think they can do as they like! Any advice most gratefully received.
 
SEL said:
Have you got legal cover with any of your insurance policies?

I would absolutely get the Environment agency involved but lawyers are also helpful
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I am going to check our insurance. I just can't believe they think it is OK! We are waiting for the "Head of Operations" to call us back. But having dealt with him in the past i know that won't go so well. He thought it was perfectly OK to cut his conifers down and shove them through the fence and onto our property and then denied doing it and tried to blame our other neighbours! He also thinks nothing of getting the hedgecutter in and doing the hedges and allowing all the debris to come onto our land and into the horses paddocks when they are out. Why he didn't just ring and ask us to move them i don't know! But they do think they are above everyone else.
 
Sorry to hear this is happening to you OP.
Obtaining legal consultation is wise as mentioned already - i can’t quote verbatim, but there’s laws about just general water drainage of lands, and allowing others lands to flood off ones own land via actions like blocking drains. Non-maintenance of established drains by a land-owner, that then allows other lands to flood are laws i was looking into a few years back and found legislation.
You may well find an agricultural or environmental health specialising solicitor more helpful for your issues.
This goes beyond nuisance neighbours when potential toxic waste is causing harm to livestock or grazing animals.

I wouldn’t use the affected field until resolve obviously, as the pathogens from potential toxic waste can cause a myriad of health issues in grazing animals. I’m sorry your horse has been affected.

There’s a chance that if the drain was significant, it could have been a household grey water waste drain. At worst, blackwater too. Obviously ive no idea where you are, but there are properties in the fens, uk - and other regions, as mentioned on here in the past - that still has houses draining their waste into nearby large ditches.

I was looking at a property for sale recently in the fens, that had full reports on the property, including drainage. I was quite shocked to read the waste from the row of houses is draining into the nearby dykes. Dykes which border fields growing human food crops, which i hope they dont still use to irrigate the crops.

So it may well be, any older property could have household wastewater still using an outdated, ecologically unsafe wastewater disposal.
A solicitor is best to advise on obtaining specific info on the local houses wastewater drainage outlets.

It may well be they have a septic tank system, that just so happens to be leaching underground where it is located, but that leachate is then surfacing on further down lands…i.e yours.
Tests of the flooded ditch-water for pathogens would be a wise call, for evidence.

If this issue has been going on for a while with the purposeful flooding, and there’s no hope of them off their own back re-newing the ditch to function as it was, request environmental health bods there asap, and if they can’t do anything about the original ditch immediately, ask them about creating an interceptor drainage ditch as an emergency solution while the legal/ official process plays out.
Unless EA can’t issues an immediate action on their part to dig out the ditch a secondary solution is urgently required.
It’s ridiculous for this to be continuing to contaminate your fields while you plough through official routes for resolve, when your lands are being flooded by potentially toxic leachate daily. A solution is, for health reasons, required NOW.
An interceptor ditch on your land would catch the flooded ditch water of theirs, and the new ditch could then further down be re-joined to the original ditch, wherever they haven’t filled-in.

Fingers crossed you get help from official sources to resolve this asap for you.
 
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meesha said:
I would also be tempted to put a camera up on the border, pointing at your side but if you have a reolink they can swivel, you can set it to record movement ...just in case they try to do anything else
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We have cameras around the yard and will look at installing another one in the corner of the paddock neighbouring them.
 
PurBee said:
Sorry to hear this is happening to you OP.
Obtaining legal consultation is wise as mentioned already - i can’t quote verbatim, but there’s laws about just general water drainage of lands, and allowing others lands to flood off ones own land via actions like blocking drains. Non-maintenance of established drains by a land-owner, that then allows other lands to flood are laws i was looking into a few years back and found legislation.
You may well find an agricultural or environmental health specialising solicitor more helpful for your issues.
This goes beyond nuisance neighbours when potential toxic waste is causing harm to livestock or grazing animals.

I wouldn’t use the affected field until resolve obviously, as the pathogens from potential toxic waste can cause a myriad of health issues in grazing animals. I’m sorry your horse has been affected.

There’s a chance that if the drain was significant, it could have been a household grey water waste drain. At worst, blackwater too. Obviously ive no idea where you are, but there are properties in the fens, uk - and other regions, as mentioned on here in the past - that still has houses draining their waste into nearby large ditches.

I was looking at a property for sale recently in the fens, that had full reports on the property, including drainage. I was quite shocked to read the waste from the row of houses is draining into the nearby dykes. Dykes which border fields growing human food crops, which i hope they dont still use to irrigate the crops.

So it may well be, any older property could have household wastewater still using an outdated, ecologically unsafe wastewater disposal.
A solicitor is best to advise on obtaining specific info on the local houses wastewater drainage outlets.

It may well be they have a septic tank system, that just so happens to be leaching underground where it is located, but that leachate is then surfacing on further down lands…i.e yours.
Tests of the flooded ditch-water for pathogens would be a wise call, for evidence.

If this issue has been going on for a while with the purposeful flooding, and there’s no hope of them off their own back re-newing the ditch to function as it was, request environmental health bods there asap, and if they can’t do anything about the original ditch immediately, ask them about creating an interceptor drainage ditch as an emergency solution while the legal/ official process plays out.
Unless EA can’t issues an immediate action on their part to dig out the ditch a secondary solution is urgently required.
It’s ridiculous for this to be continuing to contaminate your fields while you plough through official routes for resolve, when your lands are being flooded by potentially toxic leachate daily. A solution is, for health reasons, required NOW.
An interceptor ditch on your land would catch the flooded ditch water of theirs, and the new ditch could then further down be re-joined to the original ditch, wherever they haven’t filled-in.

Fingers crossed you get help from official sources to resolve this asap for you.
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The land specialist we had out is going to put new ditches in for us, but obviously at great cost. The worry then is that if they do not reinstate the ditches they have filled, then the water will run off into ours and fill them and we will be back to square one! So that can not happen. We are just waiting to hear back from them and if, as i fully expect them to be, are difficult i have the EA number and will contact them immediately. When on earth did people become so uncaring?
 
KC31 said:
The land specialist we had out is going to put new ditches in for us, but obviously at great cost. The worry then is that if they do not reinstate the ditches they have filled, then the water will run off into ours and fill them and we will be back to square one! So that can not happen. We are just waiting to hear back from them and if, as i fully expect them to be, are difficult i have the EA number and will contact them immediately. When on earth did people become so uncaring?
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Obviously im not aware of the ditch design, lay-out, any banks and trees, and know that these aspects complicate or help, depending on design.

A (general rainwater) drainage ditch needs to be sized correctly to take the worst known rainfalls so they always drain, and not over-flow. There also needs to be sufficient drop of the drain’s trajectory to ensure a speedy flow of water in the right direction, to avoid drain filling-up and over-flowing.

For you to incur such a cost for your own drainage works is potentially claimable on property insurance? Although deliberate flooding of your land by a neighbour is going to complicate such a claim, as it does reach into legal territory.
The commercial business causing this environmental contamination of your lands should be the ones claiming on their insurance to sort this out!

The EA are best to advise from an initial starting point as they’ll know your legal standing too.

Oftentimes people have no idea the consequences of their actions. Ignorance usually. They may well have thought the trees and clippings shoved in your paddock would be a nice treat for your horses to munch on, and you’d appreciate their ‘neighbourly thoughtfulness’.
The toxic lagoon could have been originally a ‘lovely pond for wildlife’ idea that has gone horribly wrong as they have/had no idea what the ditch is actually used for and how essential it is.
Stupidity rather than out-and-out intended cruelty is far more common.

If they are a business, have you officially written a letter detailing the issues they’ve caused by their ‘landscaping efforts’, including your horse becoming ill?

Having a water sample of the run-off for toxic pathogens would go a long way to prove your case.
It is possible for just excess rainwater to contaminate lands as flooding washes everything up from everywhere, and can deposit it on surface soil. Levels would be low in such a sample from a one-off flooding event though.
The level of pathogens in a sample can indicate if it is leachate from sewerage, or leachate from secondary sewerage - grey or blackwater.
E-coli is the most common exposure anyone can get from sewerage, with other gram negative bacteria known to exist in sewerage. We mammals can get really quite ill from exposure to these.
If there’s algae bloom on this lagoon you describe, there’s algaes that are toxic. Red and green. If thats washing onto your lands there’s potential for toxicity from those types of algae pathogens.
With a pathogen test, it can help pin-point the type of cause of toxicity.
Maybe the EA will retrieve a sample and test it for their own investigations? That’s worth asking before engaging in private testing yourself.

Even if the affected field looks lush and wonderful to graze this spring, i personally wouldn’t risk it, based on 1 horse getting ill from being on that flooded field previously.
Ideally, once the flooding is stopped, the land needs to drain, the sunshine on the field killing topsoil bacteria, the grass cutting/topping, not eating.
Allow UV rays to help kill surface bacteria. UV kills e-coli, listeria, clostridium, salmonella etc. Sunshine is very useful.
The sun needs to get to the soil so continuous topping would be required to keep grass short so UV rays can shine on the soil. Hope for a heatwave.
If any parts are shaded by trees, that soil would take longer for UV rays to kill pathogens.
A field can be safe again, but the source of contamination needs to stop first.
 
YourValentine said:
100% contact the EA now, don't wait for them (neighbours) to reply.

Also contact or get the name of a solicitor, ideally one recommended by a land agent who understands environmental issues, because it is likely to go to court or involve legal proceedings.
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Also if you go on Google earth it has a function that let's you see past satellite imagery so you can go and take screen shots of before and possibly after (depending on when images were last updated)
 
YourValentine said:
100% contact the EA now, don't wait for them (neighbours) to reply.

Also contact or get the name of a solicitor, ideally one recommended by a land agent who understands environmental issues, because it is likely to go to court or involve legal proceedings.
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If you are a BHS Gold member, they recommended me an excellent solicitor when we were having problems about environmental issues with a neighbour.
 
Highmileagecob said:
If their waste water is heading for a water source - stream, river, land drain etc. then inform your local water authority as well. Given the bad press going on at the moment about water pollution it may be another string to your bow. Is your other neighbour on side with you?
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Our neighbours will be on side,especially as it has flooded them as well.
 
Just a quick update. EA notified along with the County Council as requested by the EA. We are now waiting on them to get back to us. Having tried to speak with the culprits they are just trying to fob us off with imaginary people! We have pictures and videos showing the issue and will also get images of before they took it upon themselves to create such a mess. On closer inspection there are so many uprooted trees that they have pushed up against our boundary fence and the concern is that these will at some point fall through the fence onto our land, the piles of earth they have moved into the ditches is upwards of 6' high and there are hundreds of tubes of empty silcone thrown all over the place. Honestly why do people think any of that is OK?!
 
Pearlsasinger said:
If you are a BHS Gold member, they recommended me an excellent solicitor when we were having problems about environmental issues with a neighbour.
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If you’re a member of the Country Landowners Association (sounds excessively grand, but owning a teeny acreage qualifies), they will provide specialist legal advice as part of the membership.
We have used this, likewise a very good friend who had problems with a dastardly neighbour trying to block and divert his land drains.
 
Exasperated said:
If you’re a member of the Country Landowners Association (sounds excessively grand, but owning a teeny acreage qualifies), they will provide specialist legal advice as part of the membership.
We have used this, likewise a very good friend who had problems with a dastardly neighbour trying to block and divert his land drains.
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Does it read “issues”, or “sinks” along your boundary, on either your Deeds or larger O.S maps? As in issues of water from one property to another?
 
Rowreach said:
How big is your property that you didn't notice all of this going on for the past two years?
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It was behind huge trees that were dense, only on them being removed recently has it come to light. The paddocks it affects are our winter ones. We could hear noise but had no idea what was going on behind it. But thank you for your very unhelpful comment! :rolleyes:
 
KC31 said:
We have been fortunate enough to buy own yard, having rented it for a number of years. We are now doing all the hard work to make it perfect. We couldn't work out why our land has been flooding so badly and hadn't done previously. I got a ground specialist in who has walked the perimeter and discovered that our neighbours, have not only filled the ditch, on their side, but pushed down fencing, uprooted trees and man made a lagoon, pushing all the waste that hasn't gone into the ditch against our fencing. This has pushed the water onto our property and into our neighbours, flooding both of us. Not only this, the water is clearly toxic as my old boy took seriously ill last year and when he was admitted to the vet hospital all they could put the cause down to was toxins in his system, no idea how they got there and that was after he had been on that paddock. My questions is do i take this up with the Environemnt Agency? The neighbours are a commercial business and are a nightmare to deal with,we are currently waiting for them to call us back, but we have had run ins in the past and they just seem to think they can do as they like! Any advice most gratefully received.
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Take pictures, while it's raining to show the flow, then contact BHS legal as well as Natural England, maybe the council.
 
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