Everyone liable for PCB-contaminated oil
A British Columbia used oil company has successfully sued the owner of a PCB transformer, and everyone down a contractual chain, for failing to warn them that the oil was almost pure PCBs. It was awarded $776,033.75.
View the post titled Everyone liable for PCB-contaminated oilNew rules for US GHG control
Since the US Congress is deadlocked on climate change legislation, the Obama administration is moving forward to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act, starting January 2, 2011. One of the challenges in doing this is that the Clean Air Act was designed for toxins em…
View the post titled New rules for US GHG controlReducing GHG from heavy vehicles
Environment Canada has released a consultation document, proposing elements of future regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles. Essentially, Canada will adopt the same rules as the US. In Canada, transportation accounts for about a quarter of greenhouse gas…
View the post titled Reducing GHG from heavy vehiclesNew rules for incinerators
Guideline A-7: Air Pollution Control, Design and Operation Guidelines for Municipal Waste Thermal Treatment Facilities, has been revised and renamed as “Air Pollution Control, Design and Operation Guidelines for Municipal Waste Thermal Treatment Facilities”. Guideline A-7 was updated to revi…
View the post titled New rules for incineratorsAu revoir, Jim Prentice
We wish former federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice well in his new career at CIBC. We have not been fans of the Harper Government’s environmental program, especially on climate change. But we admit that we were pleasantly surprised last week when then Environment Minister Prentice ref…
View the post titled Au revoir, Jim PrenticeEnvironmental fines in Canada
Nimonik has posted an interesting and original survey of environmental fines imposed in Canada from 1990 to 2009. According to the reports provided by each jurisdiction, only $26-million dollars worth of environmental fines have been levied against polluters by both provincial and federal l…
View the post titled Environmental fines in CanadaCumulative pollution a Charter breach?
Ecojustice has launched a lawsuit on behalf of Aamjiwnaaang First Nation members, Ron Plain and Ada Lockridge, alleging that the cumulative effects of government approved pollution in Sarnia’s Chemical Valley amounts to a violation of their human rights under sections 7 and 15 of the …
View the post titled Cumulative pollution a Charter breach?Hazardous waste nonsuit decision
As mentioned last week, we won a rare non-suit motion in the Ontario Court of Justice on three counts, each against three defendants charged with improperly managing hazardous waste at a transfer site, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act. In each case, the Ministry of the Environme…
View the post titled Hazardous waste nonsuit decisionBPA- a toxic substance
Canada has just become the first country in the world to regulate bisphenol A(BPA) as a toxic substance, adopting a precautionary approach and recognizing that the compound may be harmful to human and environmental health.
View the post titled BPA- a toxic substanceSyncrude pays $3M for dead ducks
On Friday, Syncrude was ordered to pay $3 million in penalties for the 1,600 ducks killed in its tailings ponds four years ago. This is the highest total penalty ever imposed in Canada for an environmental offence. Syncrude was fined the maximum for a single incident: $300,000 for the feder…
View the post titled Syncrude pays $3M for dead ducksReceive Blog Posts
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