Thousands of Westmount residents can expect compensation after an agreement in principle was reached with the MUHC.
The dispute was over noise coming from the ventilation system at the hospital’s Glen site.
The residents had initially appealed to the MUHC and Westmount city council because they were frustrated by the low level noise coming from the hospital. Eventually the group hired lawyers to file a class action lawsuit.
“You think it's a big truck and you keep waiting for them to turn off the motor and you realize it's not the motor or a plane engine, it's just this building,” said Christiane Loiselle, one of the Westmount residents involved in the dispute.
Those who live closest to the site found they couldn’t spend time in their backyards anymore.
“Some of them, the closest, had a hard time sleeping at night even with their window closed,” said class action lawyer Catherine Sylvestre.
Sylvestre’s firm and a lawyer for the MUHC worked out a tentative agreement which calls for financial compensation and reduced noise levels. $420,000 in total will be divided between the plaintiffs and their lawyers.
Compensation will be doled out based on four zones where affected residents live in relation to the Glen site.
Those in Zone 1 will receive the most compensation. It works out to roughly $1,000 for each person in a home, divided monthly over 22 months.
Anyone living in Zone 4, the furthest away from the site, will not receive financial compensation but will benefit from the reduced noise levels.
According to the agreement, noise levels from the site can’t exceed 43 decibels, which is the average level of ambient noise in a city. It also calls for a noise monitoring system.
The MUHC has already taken measures to install noise dampeners around the ventilation equipment.
Lawyers for both sides will be in court February 6th to seek approval of the tentative agreement.
Westmount residents who would still like to file a claim for damages after the court date, will have three months to do so.
