Residents, businesses affected by Wheatley, Ont., explosion seek $100M in proposed class action

Residents and businesses impacted by the 2021 explosion that rocked the small community of Wheatley, Ont., are seeking a total of $100 million in damages in a proposed class action against Chatham-Kent and a company hired by the municipality to source a gas leak linked to the blast.

Windsor law firmStrosberg Sasso Sutts LLPfiled a statement of claim intheChatham Superior Court of Justice on Friday, seeking the class action lawsuit against the Corporation of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent andHSE Integrated Ltd.

The claims and allegations in the proposed lawsuit haven't been argued or proven in court. In order to proceed, the proposed suit must be certifiedby a judge.

A lawyer for Chatham-Kent said the municipality isn't in a position to comment, but isconcentrating on getting the scene back to normal. HSE has not responded to a request for comment from CBC News.

Strosberg Sasso Suttsrepresents six residents and business owners, as well as anybody elseimpacted by the Aug. 26, 2021, blast, claiming it"was caused by the negligence" ofthe defendants. The explosion levelled two buildings and injured many peoplein the town of about 3,000east of Leamington.

Here's a breakdownof the damages being sought:

• $60,000,000 in general damages.
• $20,000,000 in special damages.
• $10,000,000 in aggravated damages.
• $10,000,000 in punitive damages.

'People justwant our town back'

StephenIngram, one of the residents named in the proposed class action, saidhe "lost eight months of his life" after he and his wifeBarbarawere evacuated from their home near the blast site.

He saidthey remained out of their home until Aprilthis year, and have been dealing with up to $30,000 in repairs to their property, though their insurance company is involved.

"I think more than the lawsuit, I think people just want our town back. That's the main thing," Ingram said. "I mean, this is not any kind of a cash or money grab. ... we want things back the way they were."

Ingram is critical of the handling of the explosion and the recovery efforts.

"I feel verystrongly about it. ... there's been pain and anguish, and we're what? Fifteenmonths in, and the town looksa disgrace. Nothing's been done hardly in the last three months apart from opening a couple of roads," he said.

"Not everyone is back home by a long shot."

More needed to bedone to prevent blast: lawyer

According to the statement of claim for the proposed lawsuit, the defendants allege the municipality and the company were "high handed, intentional, outrageous, reckless, wanton, entirely without care and grossly negligent" in their handling of the explosion and events around it,and that they "disregarded the safety and rights" of the plaintiffs.

They allege officials were "motivated by economic considerations," and said the those affecteddeserve to be compensated.

Harvey Strosberg, a senior partner at the law firm,saidthey allege that before the explosion, the municipality or the company should have done more to prevent it at the property of 15 Erie St. N., where a gas leak was detected.

"I was told that they didn't ventilate the basement, didn't turn off the power, and if you have gas, you have to have a source of ignition. If there's no spark, there's no explosion," he told CBC News."Why didn't they turn off the power and gas, and vent the basement? That's a question we ask;we don't know the answer yet."

Strosberg saidthe municipality also should have "properly" dealt with the properties that were under their control, following the explosion and evacuation.

"They should have had a system to inspect each property and dealt with the refrigerator. They didn't empty the refrigerators for months, for example. We suggest they were liable on that basis also."

Earlier this month, the municipalityreducedthe size of the evacuation zone in Wheatley's town centre, sayingdrilling in the area is completeand they were able to open the roadway again.

WATCH | The power of the 2021 explosion that rocked Wheatley:

Video of Wheatley explosion

3 years ago

Duration 0:44

Video from security camera footage shows the power of the blast in downtown Wheatley last summer. Submitted by John Urban.