End of pleadings for Alcoa and residents of Baie-Comeau

If the settlement is accepted, Alcoa will pay $13 million to the residents.

The Citizens’ Association of the Saint-Georges district of Baie-Comeau and Alcoa appeared at the Baie-Comeau courthouse on Monday.

Both parties want a settlement that provides for the payment of a total of $13 million by Alcoa to area residents to be approved by the Superior Court of Quebec.

The lawyers of the two parties made their representations before Judge Carl Lachance of the Superior Court of Quebec in the morning.

The settlement was reached in the spring between the two parties, ending a class action lawsuit launched more than 16 years ago.

The class action was led by a group of citizens whose residences may have been contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the aluminum smelter or disturbed by dust residues for decades.

In 2003, Alcoa had to restore the floors of 130 properties. However, expert reports later revealed that the PAHspolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons had contaminated other properties.

Still in court

A dozen neighborhood residents attended the presentations.

It’s well done, it’s reasonably well done, advance Albert Mireault, a current resident of the district who was present at the courthouse on Monday. The presentation is good.

If the settlement is accepted, the $13 million would be divided among residents and ex-residents according to a points system.

In the regulations, the Saint-Georges district was divided into five parts, according to the direction of the wind in particular, or according to the results of the studies which were carried out to analyze the state of the ground or the air in the houses, between others.

The amounts that residents could receive will vary according to these points, but also according to the number of residents who make a claim.

Residents would have approximately six months to make their claim. Work would be done to try to find as many residents as possible.

The lawyer who represents the group, Me Catherine Sylvestre explains that publicity work would be carried out, in particular door to door or sending emails to reach as many members as possible.

I think it’s difficult to have a precise number because it is estimated that there are approximately 1,600 adult residents in the Saint-Georges district as of today, she says. But the recourse extends over twenty years, so we are starting in 2002, so it is certain that there has been some turnover in the population. It is therefore very difficult to assess the number of people who may have been affected by the situation in total.

Alcoa still pleads his innocence

The lawyer who represents Alcoa, Eleni Yiannakis, however wanted to remind the judge that the company claims to have complied with all the rules and that it did not commit any faulteven if it agrees to pay the sum to the persons concerned.

Me Yiannakis declined to comment on the case.

It only remains for the judge to make his decision. No date has yet been set for the delivery of the decision.

With information from Zoe Bellehumeur