Can Purchaser Of Contaminated Site Sue Neighbour?

Can the purchaser of contaminated sites sue the neighbour who originally caused the contamination? The Ontario Court of Appeal will hear a buyer's appeal in Midwest v. Thorco on January 27, 2015.

Midwest purchased industrial property in 2007, next to an old industrial site covered with tanks. It first obtained a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment that, for unexplained reasons, recommended not bothering with a Phase II. After purchase, it turned out that Midwest had purchased a site heavily contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons which had migrated, sometime in the previous 40 years, from the Thorco site next door. Midwest's expert testified that migration of contaminated groundwater was ongoing.