Arsenic Victims to Take British Science Body to Court

CAMBRIDGE, U.K.—The British Geological Survey (BGS) is girding for a court battle over claims that it could have averted a wave of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh over the past decade. A High Court judge in London last week gave the go-ahead for a trial pitting two Bangladeshi residents against BGS's parent body, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The plaintiffs, both of whom are said to suffer from arsenic poisoning, are claiming unspecified damages.