The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected arguments of Weyerhaeuser and Resolute regarding the clean up of a former mercury-contaminated site at the Dryden Mill.
The 4-3 decision this morning (Friday) brings some closure in a long-standing dispute over who is responsible for cleaning up and monitoring the site.
The forest companies had argued they had agreements with the province, which excluded them from responsibility.
However, the government has long been after the two forest companies to pay for the clean-up.
A 1986 settlement agreement stated that about 9,000 kilograms of toxic effluent was dumped into the English-Wabigoon River system in the 1960’s, which impacted the health of people living in Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations, who are downstream from the mill.
The government order obligated Weyerhaeuser and Resolute to repair site erosion, do water testing, file annual reports, prevent any leaks and give the Ontario Environment Ministry over $273,000s as financial assurance with respect to the site.
The current mill owner Domtar is not involved in the court ruling and the entire appeal process.
To read the complete ruling visit https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/news/en/item/6753/index.do
