The High Court has reserved judgment on an action for damages by Meath County Council against energy giant Shell after the leakage of petroleum products from a Shell petrol station halted construction of new civic offices in Trim.
Damages estimated at between €5 million and €6 million are being sought by the council after a hydrocarbon discharge in 2001 from a petrol station owned by Irish Shell at Watergate Street, Trim, contaminated an adjoining site which was previously used as a car park for the local swimming pool. The leak was detected in January 2001 after a sheen from hydrocarbons was observed in the nearby Boyne river.
The council is seeking damages for consequential losses and costs incurred because the contractor they employed to build the offices has not been able to work since April 2001.
Earlier in the hearing, Mr Justice Vivian Lavan ruled that correspondence which was exchanged between the parties constituted an agreement by Shell to the effect that it accepted responsibility for the pollution; remedy what Shell described as the "unfortunate event"; and pay all the costs and damages to the council to include all consequential losses.
The council wants Shell to clean up the site to a level which, it contends, had been agreed by the parties. While Shell admits responsibility for contamination of the site and for the direct costs of cleaning the site, it does not accept responsibility for any losses arising from the council's decision to enter into a contract to construct the offices.