SciDev.Net

The British Geological Survey (BGS) is preparing for a court battle over claims that it could have averted a wave of arsenic contamination 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.

The court case hinges on whether BGS should have tested for arsenic when it was commissioned in 1991 to help improve drinking water wells in Bangladesh. If the Bangladeshis win their case, it could pave the way for a lawsuit that could include hundreds of victims of arsenic poisoning.