What are the legal principles applicable to this action?

The legal principles applicable to this action are not in dispute, they are the well established principles of Rylands v. Fletcher (1868) L.R. 3 H.L. 330, nuisance, negligence and contractual interpretation. The essence of this lawsuit is whether the plaintiffs can prove that the defendants' activities on the lease site caused the alleged contamination. The determination of the cause of the problem in the Blatz water well and the extent of any contamination was the subject of expert evidence. The findings resulting from the analysis of the expert evidence is the focus of this lawsuit.

As a result, this judgment will start with a brief discussion of the applicable law, followed by an examination of pertinent facts, and then a detailed analysis of the expert evidence. This leads to a determination of whether the plaintiffs have met the onus of proof in relation to the causation question, and then to the quantification of any damages. The Law 1. Rylands v. Fletcher

The rule in Rylands v. Fletcher is an old, but still available basis for a tort action in Canada. It is a strict liability concept standing for the proposition that a person who brings onto land or keeps something there that is likely to do mischief if it escapes, keeps it at his peril, and if the material escapes, he is prima facie answerable for all the damages which are the natural consequence of its escape.