A $375-million class action lawsuit against the City of Thunder Bay will be going to trial. It follows the breakdown of mediated talks between the city and the legal counsel for those who are claiming damages from the 2012 flood.
City Manager Norm Gale says “The city remains firm that staff did everything reasonable to deal with this extraordinary situation, which but for their actions, would have resulted in a far worse situation.” He goes on to say “While it is unfortunate that this matter continues unresolved, the city remains resolute in refuting the claim, and will resolve the matter before the courts should that be the only alternative.”
Heavy rainfall in 2012 resulted in the flooding of the city’s waste water treatment plant on Atlantic Avenue. About 70 millimetres of rain fell in a two hour period on May 28th of that year.
A consultant’s report into the flood was presented to city council in December of 2012. It concluded the water treatment facility was overwhelmed with the amount of rainwater that came through the facility. It says the pumping system wasn’t designed to deal with the flooding event and resulted in a systematic failure in the plant. The result was the flooding of hundreds of basements in the city most of which were in the East End where the treatment plant is located.
A report in May of 2013 stated that the total price tag for the disaster was pegged at about $44 million.
