Has The Court Paved The Way For Plaintiffs To Profit Off Purchasing Contaminated Sites?

In her chapter in Key Developments in Environmental Law 2017, Natalie Mullins reviews the evolution and current state of the law on damages in contaminated sites cases. Her comprehensive assessment of the law on damages is a backdrop to a critique of the Ontario Court of Appeal's statement in Midwest Properties Ltd. v. Thordarson ("Midwest") that a trend has developed toward awarding damages based on restoration costs rather than diminution in value.

Natalie explores some critical questions that have arisen post-Midwest, such as:

• Whether diminution in value is still relevant to the measure of damages;
• What it means to "restore" a real property;
• How the court can take a proactive role to ensure that awards made to benefit the environment actually meet that objective;