East Coast Environmental Law

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Dow Chemical Company v. Agnew, 1991 CanLII 4102 (NB CA)

This case was heard in the New Brunswick Court of Appeal.

The plaintiffs in this case were former employees or the personal representatives of deceased former employees of the New Brunswick Electric Power Commission (“NB Power”). They alleged that for nearly twenty years, the Dow Chemical Company, Dow Chemical Canada Inc., and ICI Chipman Inc. “manufactured, synthesized, produced, distributed and/or sold” toxic herbicides to NB Power, and that employees who sprayed those herbicides suffered “serious debilitating injuries or death” as a result.

The plaintiffs brought claims for damages under New Brunswick’s Fatal Accidents Act, but the defendants filed applications requesting that the Court dismiss some of the claims as being barred by the statute of limitations contained within the Act.

When the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench dismissed the defendant’s applications, they appealed to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal. There, the Court affirmed the decision of the lower court and dismissed the appeal.

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/nb/nbca/doc/1991/1991canlii4102/1991canlii4102.html

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