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ARTICLE · 21 SEPTEMBER 2010

Canada's Largest Environmental Class Action Judgment Based on Pollution: Nickel Refinery to Pay $36M to Homeowners

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In Canada's largest ever environmental class action decision based on pollution, damages were assessed against Vale (formerly Inco Limited) in the amount of $36 million.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
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By Steven Rosenhek & Rosalind Cooper (with the assistance of Kimberly Potter, Student-at-Law)

In Canada's largest ever environmental class action decision based on pollution, damages were assessed against Vale (formerly Inco Limited) in the amount of $36 million. This represented compensation to a class of homeowners whose property values declined when it became public that their properties were contaminated with nickel. This was the first environmental class action to proceed to trial in a common law province.

The class action was brought on behalf of approximately 7,000 residents of Port Colborne, Ontario. Inco Limited operated a nickel refinery between 1918 and 1984 that deposited nickel particles, primarily in the form of nickel oxide, onto the properties of the class members. The plaintiffs claimed damages only for the diminution in their property values; their action did not include claims for adverse health effects or personal injury, as certification on

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