ABSTRACT
The tort of nuisance has historically been viewed as the most relevant and, with the addition of the strict liability regime contributed by the rule in Rylands v Fletcher, most promising today as a source of general principles of liability. If opportunities for the writing of history continue to be assured and the time does eventually come for an analysis of developments in environmental law in the closing years of the twentieth century, the record will probably reveal a series of turbulent interactions of events. The mere listing of these categories of 'environmental value' is sufficient to expose the complexity of the quantification of liability in this area. Liability falls on an 'operator' – 'the person who exercises the control of a dangerous activity' and, subject to certain exemptions, liability is 'strict'. In the development of principles in the field of environmental liability, it has been recognised that, in contrast with other areas, there are particular problems.
