Trustee personal liability for contaminated land remediation: the UK position

Abstract Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 creates a liability risk for trusts and trustees. Trustees may indeed be found liable pursuant to Part IIA’s definition of an “owner” of contaminated land. This definition includes trustees to avoid the situation of people evading liability by transferring affected land into trust funds. However, the risk to trustees is sufficiently low. The law shows that trustees possess a lien over their trust funds that can be used to indemnify liabilities. Furthermore, Part IIA’s proportionate approach to sustainable development considers the “hardship” that liability can cause to trustees and obviates the risk.