Class action lawsuit approved
November 18, 2005

Eric Gillespie, the lawyer for both the Port Colborne residents and those in the Red Hill Valley Neighbourhoods Association, is quoted on the wide-ranging implications of today's court decision. He noted today's decision is binding on Ontario courts and "will have persuasive precedent value for courts in all other jurisdictions."

Residents of the Port Colborne area have won a precedent-setting case that allows them to pursue a class action lawsuit against Inco Ltd for allegedly devaluing their property with pollutants. The court decision has potential implications in Hamilton where the same lawyer warned earlier this year that residents affected by the Red Hill Creek Expressway will sue the city for compensation.

The Ontario Court of Appeals overturned two lower court decisions in allowing the Port Colborne class action to proceed. It's the first time that a Canadian court outside of Quebec has permitted a class action suit against a corporation for long-term environmental damages.

Eric Gillespie, the lawyer for both the Port Colborne residents and those in the Red Hill Valley Neighbourhoods Association, is quoted in a Bloomberg news story on the wide-ranging implications of today's court decision. He noted today's decision is binding on Ontario courts and "will have persuasive precedent value for courts in all other jurisdictions."

"There are dozens, if not hundreds, of communities right across Canada where industries have operated for lengthy periods of time and there is the possibility that the industry has impacted the local community", said Gillespie.

Expressway area residents allege that the expressway construction and future operation devalues their homes and properties, and that the city's offer of noise mitigation is not sufficient compensation. Gillespie told a July 13 media conference at Hamilton City Hall that "that compensation may be somewhere between $40 and $60 million short of what is actually required in order to ensure that the costs of this expressway are borne equally and fairly by all that are going to benefit from it."

At the July media conference Gillespie indicated that he was expecting the Port Colborne court decision to provide direction on whether or not the valley area residents could launch a class action suit, or would need to initiate individual lawsuits to get the compensation they are seeking. In the interim, he said the residents were willing to negotiate with the city.

Inco released nickel oxide into Port Colborne's air for decades, contaminating properties downwind of its plant according to a 2000 report by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. The company has taken responsibility for the pollution but disputes the claim that it lowered property values. MacLeans Magazine is reporting that Inco intends to appeal today's court decision.

Gillespie is also the lawyer who assisted Dundas businesswoman Joanna Chapman in obtaining a court-ordered compliance audit of the campaign finances of three municipal candidates.

Bloomberg news coverage of the Port Colborne decision can be viewed at
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid
=awYqKpb_i4No&refer=canada.