Homeowners to sue city for not telling them about former dumps

Dozens of home and property owners whose lands siton top of former dumps and quarries plan to take legal action against the City of Montreal.

In court documents, the owners allege the city did not disclose important information about their land.

An investigation by Radio-Canada last year revealed that hundreds of buildings, schools and parks have been built on that land that could be contaminated.

• Contaminated dumps could be beneath 100s of Montreal homes and parks

The owners of 14 homes and properties have already filed lawsuits against the city. Another 26 are sending legal notices or claims.

The claims range from $350,000 to $1.2 million in pecuniary, moral and punitive damages.

Neither the property owners nor the city are speaking to media.

• See where former dumps and quarries are in each borough.

A Montreal lawyer who specializes in environmental matters said a property on contaminated land can be harder to sell and finance.

"If it's contaminated, if there's biogas emissions, I would want to know because if I decided to sell my house I will be stuck with the problem," said Roger Paiement.

Homeowners wishing to sue the city need to act now, he said. There's a six-month window on filing a suit, but when thatwindow starts is unknown.

"Does it start when the report was published? Does it start when the owner has the confirmation that his property is damaged? There's a problem that will have to be addressed by the courts eventually," Paiement added.

See below a few of the lawsuits filed against the city.