LAWS301 Sample

Rylands v Fletcher

 

Sarah has recently moved into her new household which is located on the coast of the mainland and has a stunning view of so many different islands. She purchased this house for that sole reason and has been living there for the past 3 months.

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Fishing & Oil Co. are a local fish oil company that produces fish oil tablets to be commercially sold. When they are manufacturing their goods, they get the fish fresh from the ocean and dispose of the carcases themselves as they believe in doing everything themselves. Their factory is also on the coast of the mainland; however, it is situated 600m from Sarah’s house.

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When Fishing & Oil Co. are harvesting the oil from the fish, they have to completely gut them, yet, instead of disposing of them right away, they keep the carcases in a ‘blood room’ for 4 weeks before having a team dispose of this, causing a horrendous smell and a lot of mess.

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One day Sarah was having a drink of water when suddenly she felt extremely sick and proceeded to vomit uncontrollably and then noticed her water was not completely clear, rather it had a slight tinge of pink. She then saw in the local paper that decomposing fishing corpses had been found within the water supply due to the ‘blood room’ owned by Fishing & Oil Co.

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After investigation, it was found that the factory was very close to the main water supply for their town and that they hadn’t cleaned the ‘blood room’ for 3 months. Therefore, the decomposing fish blood seeped through the soil it laid on and then made its way into the water supply.

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Sarah is absolutely devastated that this has happened, and she wants to know if she is entitled to any personal compensation, however, she is unsure she has a claim. She comes to you asking about whether she could sue them under the tort of Rylands v Fletcher.

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Advise Sarah.

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