Dianne’s Halifax presentation on contaminated site litigation
Here is Dianne’s presentation to the Canadian Bar Association Mid-winter meeting in Halifax, on Contaminated Site Litigation after Inco. We include a really useful list of Caveat emptor case summaries, with thanks to researcher Kristen Courtney.
View the post titled Dianne’s Halifax presentation on contaminated site litigationTelling legitimate recycling from shams
Last week’s post on “recycling” batteries by turning them into roadbed aggregate, via mill slag, raised the question of what constitutes “legitimate” recycling. The US Environmental Protection Agency has been struggling with this issue for decades; claims to tur…
View the post titled Telling legitimate recycling from shamsWaste Diversion groups can sit uncomfortably with the Competition Act
The industry funding organizations used to provide, or to fund, waste diversion can have anti-competitive effects. There is a natural tendency for large companies with market power to use that power to design waste diversion programs and organizations in their own interest and to create obst…
View the post titled Waste Diversion groups can sit uncomfortably with the Competition ActExcess Soil Management Guidance finalized
The Ministry of the Environment has announced release of the final, Management of Excess Soil – A Guide for Best Management Practices is now available on the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry and the ministry’s website. You can access the guide here. The document provides guidance on man…
View the post titled Excess Soil Management Guidance finalizedShould roadbed slag count as battery recycling?
Waste Diversion Ontario is considering a proposal by Call2Recycle Canada to take over battery recycling from Ontario’s existing Consolidated Municipal Hazardous Solid Waste (CMHSW) diversion program under the Waste Diversion Act, 2002. Ontario’s battery recyclers (including our client)…
View the post titled Should roadbed slag count as battery recycling?Supreme Court: Honest efforts to understand the law are not enough
The Supreme Court of Canada has made compliance with ambiguous regulations tougher than ever, by ruling that honest efforts to understand the law (however confusing) are not enough. In La Souveraine, Compagnie d’assurance générale v. Autorité des marchés financiers, Sovereign General (SG) wa…
View the post titled Supreme Court: Honest efforts to understand the law are not enoughEcojustice asks Commissioner to improve contaminated sites law
The farther we move away from the “polluter pay” principle, the greater the disarray in Ontario’s contaminated sites law and policy, and the greater its economic and environmental harm. The Ontario Bar Association is working on a submission to the Law Commission of Ontario,…
View the post titled Ecojustice asks Commissioner to improve contaminated sites lawMacQueen class action struck out re Sydney Tar Ponds
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has struck out the groundbreaking class action that had been certified relating to contamination from the Sydney Tar Ponds and the associated steel and coke plants: MacQueen v. Ispat Sidbec Inc. This is another major setback to plaintiffs in contaminated land …
View the post titled MacQueen class action struck out re Sydney Tar PondsLawsuits for climate disasters?
Lawsuits against private firms for climate disaster compensation may not be winnable yet, but important groundwork is being laid. In groundbreaking peer-reviewed research, researcher Richard Heede of the Climate Accountability Institute offers the most complete picture to date of which insti…
View the post titled Lawsuits for climate disasters?Landmark lead paint abatement case decided in California
In a landmark lead paint liability case, the Superior Court of California has held three of five paint companies liable for public nuisance. The court ordered them to clean up lead paint in California residences painted before 1978, at a total cost of $1.15 billion. The use of lead in interi…
View the post titled Landmark lead paint abatement case decided in CaliforniaReceive Blog Posts
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