Geneva airport ordered to compensate locals
The federal court has ordered Geneva International Airport to fork out SFr60 million damages to local residents for pollution, ending a long-running dispute about who should pay.
The federal court has ordered Geneva International Airport to fork out SFr60 million damages to local residents for pollution, ending a long-running dispute about who should pay.
The case goes back to an earlier ruling by the federal court, in which it told canton Geneva to compensate residents living near the airport. The canton then asked Cointrin airport to foot the bill, citing the polluter-pays principle.
But Cointrin argued that the canton's attempt to pass the burden on to the airport was an infringement of the autonomy granted to it by the cantonal parliament last June.
The federal court ruled that the airport could not invoke its autonomy in this case.
From staff and wire reports.
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