The appellants mistakenly delivered heating oil to the plaintiffs' home, which had been converted to natural gas 22 years earlier by the respondents.
The oil was pumped into a decommissioned fill pipe, causing a massive spill and environmental contamination.
The appellants settled the plaintiffs' claim and sought contribution from the respondents for negligently decommissioning the system.
The trial judge dismissed the third-party claim, finding the specific chain of events was not reasonably foreseeable.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the trial judge erred by focusing on the precise manner of the incident rather than the general foreseeability of a mistaken delivery.
The respondents breached the standard of care by failing to permanently plug the fill pipe.
