listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations may occur. We work with our partners to continually review and improve our results.
The Ontario Superior Court has opened the door to punitive damages in a class action lawsuit over the contamination of people’s private property with “forever chemicals” called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Lawyers supporting a class action lawsuit related to contamination in Mississippi Mills, Ontario, said the March 9 ruling by Judge Robert Smith sets a precedent for similar cases.
Thousands of chemicals belong to the PFAS family, some of which are associated with liver and prostate cancer, gestational hypertension, fatty liver disease, and effects on lipid function associated with type 2 diabetes.
The Mississippi Mills class action lawsuit against the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) seeks $40 million from 69 homeowners in the area who say PFAS contamination has reduced the value of their properties.
For about 25 years, the NRC operated a firefighting facility in the area where firefighters were trained using water-based film-forming foam containing PFAS.
The chemicals seeped into the groundwater and contaminated nearby residential wells.
The plaintiffs are now seeking $40 million in damages for diminished property value, plus an additional $2 million in punitive damages.
The plaintiffs allege that the NRC knew or should have known about the risks posed by PFAS contamination in the area as early as March 2013, but did not tell residents until December 2015.
“They gave us no warning about it and essentially allowed us to continue drinking that contaminated water,” said Michael Hebert, head of the environmental law group at Mann Lawyers, the law firm behind the class action lawsuit.
In his March 9 ruling awarding punitive damages, Judge Smith noted that a company called Aquaterre submitted two reports to the NRC in 2004 and 2009 raising “environmental concerns due to firefighting wastewater discharges.”
Roberts said in his decision that those concerns were not passed up the NRC chain of authority.
Nathan Adams, a Mun Law colleague who also worked on the case, said these reports mean the NRC may have been aware of concerns about PFAS contamination even earlier than 2013.
Adams said the decision awarding punitive damages could also apply to other class actions.
In North Bay, PFAS from a firefighter training exercise at the airport arrived at Trout Lake, the city’s source of drinking water. (Jonathan Migneault/CBC)
Precedent could apply to North Bay.
Mann is also proposing a class action lawsuit related to PFAS contamination in North Bay, Ontario.
In North Bay, the Department of Defense conducted firefighting training at the airport from the 1970s to the mid-1990s using the same water-based film-forming foam used by the NRC.
“The circumstances are very similar and virtually the same,” Adams said.
In North Bay, plaintiffs claim the Department of Defense delayed for three to five years in telling homeowners about PFAS contamination in their well water.
“We contend that they waited even longer to inform the community that they could be exposed to PFAS in their drinking water,” Adams said.
The North Bay lawsuit is less advanced than the Mississippi Mills class action lawsuit and has not yet been certified by a judge.
However, Adams said punitive damages may be possible based on the same basis as in previous lawsuits.
