ABSTRACT
James’s alkali works were plagued by accusations of causing a nuisance due to the acid gas (hydrogen chloride) produced during the first stage of the Leblanc process. Attempts to release the acid gas from the tall chimney that became a characteristic feature of his works proved ineffectual and eventually James was forced to defend several court cases. The 1838 Muspratt case became a cause célèbre and revealed the key issues the law struggled to tackle when reaching court verdicts. These issues formed a key part of the deliberations leading to the 1863 Alkali Act that set a limit on emissions and established the Alkali Inspectorate to enforce the limit. This legislation changed the relationship between government and industry from laissez-faire to intervention. Its imposition on industry was opposed by the Muspratts. In due course, as industrialization expanded further, other damaging gases were incorporated into the work of the Alkali Inspectorate but it was only towards the end of the nineteenth century that the associated health concerns were addressed. Pollution of streams, rivers and canals was largely neglected until the 1860s when the Royal Commission on the Best Means of Preventing Pollution of Rivers (Mersey and Ribble Basin) was set up in 1868 to address the accumulated damage from the build-up of industrial waste and human sewage. This was a further occasion when the Muspratts opposed the principles of legislation that might interfere with the workings of industry.
