News Paper Pulp
Class action lawsuit against Corner Brook Pulp and Paper to proceed

March 20, 2019 – A class action against Corner Brook Pulp and Paper will proceed, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal has ruled, after overturning a decision that would have allowed the lawsuit to go to arbitration first.

According to a report by The Western Star, the lawsuit was brought forth by community property owners who claim their homes have been damaged by excess water seeping from the Deer Lake canal.

The class action had been going through the appeals process following a December 2017 decision by Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Justice David Hurley that agreed with Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited’s parent company Kruger Inc. in its application to have the class action go to arbitration before proceeding to court.

According to Wagners, a law firm representing the plaintiffs, the Deer Lake canal, officially called the Humber Canal, runs from Grand Lake to the Kruger Hydroelectric Power Generating Station in Deer Lake, Nfld.

The man-made canal connects the lake with the generating station, which is used to generate electricity to power the Corner Brook paper mill.

The property owners say there are deficiencies in the design and operation of the canal, and that 350 homes have been damaged by moisture and mould.

In 2018, Kruger Inc. committed to cleaning up the canal, which was found to contain two sunken barges from the canal’s original construction in the 1920s, and two barrels from the 1940s or ’50s.

Read the Western Star article here.