Stubborn ClassNotFoundException for org.apache.commons.io.output.ByteArrayOutputStream

I have been running the same web application from within eclipse for some time, and heavily using org.apache.commons.io.output.ByteArrayOutputStream.
Out of the blue, the project is now throwing ClassNotFoundException although commons-io-2.4.jar is included in the build path and marked as exported.
This very class has been used for some time, hence the puzzle

What can I do better to make sure the class is found?

Edit: I have two servers configured Tomcat 7.0.40 and Tomcat 6.0.33
The problem only shows on Tomcat 7.

Note: The following workarounds have been attempted:

1. Restarting Eclipse.
2. Cleanup project
3. Remove and add back commons-io-2.4.jar

Stack Trace:

SEVERE: A child container failed during start
java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/WebApp]]
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerGet(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(Unknown Source)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:800)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/WebApp]]
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
    ... 7 more
Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/apache/commons/io/output/ByteArrayOutputStream
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredFields0(Native Method)
    at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredFields(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredFields(Unknown Source)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.Introspection.getDeclaredFields(Introspection.java:106)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadFieldsAnnotation(WebAnnotationSet.java:261)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadApplicationServletAnnotations(WebAnnotationSet.java:140)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadApplicationAnnotations(WebAnnotationSet.java:67)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.applicationAnnotationsConfig(ContextConfig.java:405)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.configureStart(ContextConfig.java:881)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.lifecycleEvent(ContextConfig.java:369)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:119)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:90)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5269)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    ... 7 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.commons.io.output.ByteArrayOutputStream
    at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1714)
    at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1559)
    ... 21 more