Military members eligible for Shannon contaminated water compensation could miss out
CBC
Hundreds of people including military personnel, who are eligible for compensation from the federal government and two private companies in a multimillion dollar contaminated water case in Shannon Que. are running out of time to take part in the class action.
Claimants have until July 10 to come forward, but so far, only 1,250 people out of 5,000 who are eligible have filed a claim with the firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, which is administering the class action.
"We're desperately trying to find them," said Charles Veilleux, a lawyer representing the claimants.
in 2012, a Quebec Superior Court judge ordered the Department of National Defence and two private companies, SNC-Lavalin and General Dynamics, to compensate residents for contaminating their local groundwater for decades with a carcinogenic degreasing agent known as trichloroethylene (TCE).
More residents became eligible after a 2020 Quebec Court of Appeal ruling.
Veilleux said he is hoping to obtain an extension, to give claimants more time to file. He also hopes to put out new colour ads in a larger format to try to catch the attention of people who may not know about the class action.
He said armed forces personnel and veterans who lived in military housing at the Valcartier base may not know they are eligible for between $250 and $1000 for every month they lived there between 1995 and 2006.
Jean Bernier, vice-president of the Shannon Citizens Committee, said many people who lived at the base for a short time have since moved away and others may have passed away, making it even more complicated to reach their next of kin.
The Department of National Defence (DND) was not obligated by the Superior Court ruling to help track down former military members who may be eligible, according to the citizens group.
"They are not trying to get in touch with the military personnel that were living on the base on the dates that give a right to compensation – they are not doing it," said Bernier.
Lawyers for the class action have little more to work with than an address and word of mouth, because DND does not have to hand over a list of names of people who lived on the base, due to confidentiality reasons, according to Marie-Paule Spieser, president of the citizens committee.
She said the department will only validate claims once they are submitted.
"The army will confirm [the name and the month of residence], but the request for compensation has to come from the military member or ex-military member," she said.
Public notices were placed in local and national papers, including the Globe and Mail and the National Post, as well as in military publications, when the eligibility period began last July.
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