Cowie & Son v. Commissioners of Dufftown [1900] ScotLR 38_191 (11 December 1900)

Cowie & Son v. Commissioners of Dufftown [1900] ScotLR 38_191 (11 December 1900)

The Court held that the Commissioners of Dufftown were entitled to refuse admission of the distillery effluent into their sewers because, as found on the evidence, the effluent would prejudicially affect the disposal of sewage by application to land, and the local authority was not required to prove scientific impossibility of treatment or to undertake experimental methods to render the effluent innocuous.

Citation
[1900] ScotLR 38_191
Parties
Pursuer: Cowie & Son; Defender: Commissioners of Dufftown
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Judgment Date
11 December 1900
Procedural Posture
Petition (statutory Enforcement) / Appeal From Sheriff Court to Court of Session, Inner House, First Division
Outcome
Appeal sustained; interlocutors of the Sheriff-Substitute recalled; petition refused; pursuers found liable in expenses.
Legal Topics
Sewerage and Drainage, Industrial Effluent, Statutory Interpretation, Burden of Proof, Rivers Pollution Prevention Act 1876, Public Health (scotland) Act 1897
Administrative Law Environmental Law Local Government Law Sewerage and Drainage Industrial Effluent Statutory Interpretation Burden of Proof Rivers Pollution Prevention Act 1876 +1 more

Case Brief

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Parties

Cowie & Son

Pursuer

Commissioners of Dufftown

Defender

Procedural Posture

Petition (statutory Enforcement) / Appeal From Sheriff Court to Court of Session, Inner House, First Division

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the Commissioners of Dufftown are statutorily obliged to admit distillery effluent into public sewers under section 7 of the Rivers Pollution Prevention Act 1876
  2. 2 Whether the effluent would prejudicially affect the disposal of sewage by application to land
  3. 3 Whether the local authority must prove it is scientifically impossible to treat the effluent to render it innocuous

Ratio Decidendi

The Court held that the Commissioners of Dufftown were entitled to refuse admission of the distillery effluent into their sewers because, as found on the evidence, the effluent would prejudicially affect the disposal of sewage by application to land, and the local authority was not required to prove scientific impossibility of treatment or to undertake experimental methods to render the effluent innocuous.

Court Disposition

Appeal sustained; interlocutors of the Sheriff-Substitute recalled; petition refused; pursuers found liable in expenses.

Orders

  • Recall the interlocutors of 28th July 1899 and 21st February 1900.
  • Refuse the prayer of the petition.