Montreal-based Cambior (CBJ-T) has been served with a motion to institute a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a group of persons living downstream from the company’s Omai gold mine in Guyana, following the mine’s tailings dam failure in August 1995.
The motion, lodged in the Superior Court of Quebec by an organization called Recherches International Quebec, asks the court to authorize the filing of a class action claiming $69 million in damages from Cambior. The organization, which does not appear to be listed in Quebec telephone directories, purports to represent 23,000 persons, who may be entitled to damages as a result of the dam failure. The accident released 1.3 million cubic metres of tailings pond effluent into the Essequibo River.
A government commission, which reported its findings in January 1996, concluded there had been no hazard to downstream residents. It also recommended modifications to tailings disposal practices at Omai as a condition of allowing the mine to resume production.
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