BUTTE — The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that residents in Opportunity seeking an environmental cleanup will get their day in court.
The Montana Standard reports the state high court’s Tuesday ruling partially overturns a legal decision made by a district court judge in 2013 that said the state’s statute of limitations barred the case from going to trial.
The plaintiffs, who filed their lawsuit in 2008, are nearly 100 Opportunity residents who want the Atlantic Richfield Co. to clean up toxic contaminants left from decades of smelting.
The jury will consider cleanup costs, whether the proposal to clean up the residents’ properties is reasonable and how long the project will take.
A spokesman for BP America, ARCO’s parent company, didn’t have comment Tuesday but said attorneys are reviewing the ruling.