Plaintiffs in a 12-year court battle over air pollution from factory smoke in Nagoya have agreed to a settlement totaling 1.52 billion yen, sources close to the case said Friday.
The plaintiffs will convey their intention to accept the compensation package offered by Chubu Electric Power Co. and nine other major industrial firms, the sources said.
About 300 people officially recognized as patients of diseases caused by air pollution and relatives of victims sued the 10 companies and the central government in three groups, seeking a total of 8.2 billion yen in compensation for damage to their health.
The Nagoya District Court ruled in November that there was a causal relationship between residents' respiratory illnesses and the amount of sulfur dioxide in the air found in southern Nagoya from 1961 to 1978. It ordered the firms to pay 289 million yen to 110 plaintiffs.