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ARTICLE · 13 JULY 2010

First Environmental Class Action Damages Award in Ontario

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
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On July 6, 2010, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded $36 million in damages to a class of approximately 7,000 residential property owners living in the vicinity of the Inco refinery in Port Colborne, Ontario.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Sarah Powell
Sarah Powell
Davit Akman
Davit Akman
Marc-André Boutin
Marc-André Boutin
Alexandria Pike
Alexandria Pike
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On July 6, 2010, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded $36 million in damages to a class of approximately 7,000 residential property owners living in the vicinity of the Inco refinery in Port Colborne, Ontario. Other than in Québec, this is the first successful environmental class action in Canada.

The claim originally included damages for human health impacts but was scaled back to focus on property damages.

In finding for the plaintiffs, the Court found that property values had decreased following the issuance of a Ministry of Environment ("MOE") study which identified health concerns due to elevated nickel levels in soil caused by emissions from the Inco refinery. The Court awarded damages equal to the total decrease in residential property values despite accepting that nickel levels on the affected properties did not exceed MOE mandatory clean-up standards.

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