Canadians say they're worried a U.S. company may be emitting toxic gas into their community

Toronto — Residents of a city just outside Toronto tell CBS News they had no idea an American company was running a major facility near their homes that may be releasing a toxic gas into the air. 

The company says the facility is safe and in compliance with limits imposed by the Canadian government, but some Mississauga residents said they want to know why the Sterigenics plant was even allowed to open there, as the company has faced hundreds of lawsuits in the U.S. and on the heels of it shutting down another facility on the other side of Toronto that was found to be spewing far more of the toxic fumes than it should have been under government safety guidelines.

Sterigenics specializes in the sterilization of medical equipment for health facilities using a chemical that's a known carcinogen, though it has told CBS News — without providing evidence — that it captures virtually all of the gas before it escapes its plants.