A $750-million class-action lawsuit filed against Inco Ltd, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Niagara Region and the City of Port Colborne as a result of nickel oxide contamination, is awaiting approval from a judge before it can proceed.
The lawsuit, filed last year in the name of a retired truck driver, will include about 20,000 residents who have lived near the refinery since March 1995, and was filed against Inco Ltd. for allegedly contaminating their properties with nickel oxide, a known carcinogen. Residents allege that the refinery released toxic chemicals into the environment and demand that Inco clean up the contaminated soil and compensate residents for any hardships endured as a result of the contamination.
Numerous residents gathered in a Toronto courtroom on June 3 as their lawyer began arguments to have their lawsuit certified.
