Campaigners granted High Court hearing over HS2 tunnel row
Environmental campaigners are set to go to the High Court on 28 October over the impact of an HS2 tunnel in the Chiltern Hills.
The environmentalists have sought legal action to save the River Misbourne, asking for the HS2 bore tunnel not to be constructed on the site.
According to campaigners, the methods and risks of the HS2 tunnelling project were not fully explored when the Environment Agency (EA) gave the okay.
“It is now apparent that the EA did not, despite promises, ensure that all potential risks to the river and the surrounding environment had been mitigated, before it licensed the tunnel construction,”
“It is for that reason that our client believes that there is an arguable case that the EA’s consent was unlawful and so should be quashed,” said Rowan Smith, the solicitor representing the activists.
Concerns over the HS2 tunnelling plans were raised earlier this year when HS2 lost 2,500m³ of Bentonite, a highly-polluting and absorbent clay, at Chalfont St Peter. The clay spilled spilled into the aquifer via fissures in the chalk.