Metalclad Wins in Court Over Waste Site Mexico Took

Metalclad Corp.’s stock moved up briskly Thursday, a day after the Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld an award under the North American Free Trade Agreement for damages related to the expropriation of the Newport Beach company’s hazardous waste landfill site in Mexico.

The shares climbed 44 cents, or more than 41%, to $1.50 on Nasdaq.

Metalclad had sued the Mexican government in 1997, alleging that the former governor of San Luis Potosi state effectively expropriated the landfill by declaring it part of an ecological zone.

Metalclad sought $90 million in damages, but the North American Free Trade Tribunal determined in August that while Mexico in effect did take its property, the landfill was worth about $16.7 million.

In October, Mexico filed a petition in the Supreme Court of British Columbia to have the decision overturned.