Contaminated sites: which cleanup standards?
More stringent cleanup standards for contaminated sites will come into effect July 1, 2011, under 2009 amendments to Regulation 153/04. Some property owners with ongoing cleanups may prefer to use the old numbers, i.e. the “March 9, 2004 Soil, Ground Water and Sediment Standards” (“2004 sta…
Continue reading the post titled Contaminated sites: which cleanup standards?Phytoremediation of contaminated sites
There are an estimated 30,000 contaminated sites in Canada. These include properties like former gas stations, factories, or rail yards that are contaminated by heavy metals, organic compounds, or other toxins. Redevelopment of these sites, which are often found in prime downtown areas, is …
Continue reading the post titled Phytoremediation of contaminated sitesOff-shore wind turbines: new rules
Off-shore wind turbines will likely have the best winds, but they also involve complex tradeoffs different from those that apply on land. The Renewable Energy Approvals (REA) regulation (O. Reg. 359/09) under the Environmental Protection Act therefore contemplates a special approvals regime …
Continue reading the post titled Off-shore wind turbines: new rulesDrive Clean tweaked
Ontario’s vehicle emissions control program, Drive Clean, is getting a tuneup. Amendments to Ontario Regulation 361/98[i] (Motor Vehicles) under the Environmental Protection Act will modernize the Drive Clean program.[ii] By December 12, 2012, the Acceleration Simulation Mode (dynamometer) …
Continue reading the post titled Drive Clean tweakedPrivate prosecution gets a boost
There is often tension between the public’s right to commence a private prosecution, and the attorney general’s right to take over that prosecution, often in order to drop it. The Ontario Court of Appeal has given a boost to private prosecutors, ruling that they are entitled to have at least…
Continue reading the post titled Private prosecution gets a boostSeizure on consent?
When can ministry investigators seize documents outside the scope of a search warrant? During the execution of a warrant, Ministry of the Environment investigators seized approximately 100 documents that clearly lay outside the scope of the warrant. They showed one set of documents to the co…
Continue reading the post titled Seizure on consent?Reg. 153/04 amended again
The Ontario regulation on brownfields and records of site condition, O. Reg. 153/04, has been amended again. Ontario regulation E laws was filed June 17, 2010. The changes are minor, primarily the correction of typos and erroneous cross-references. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment h…
Continue reading the post titled Reg. 153/04 amended againVideo on approvals reform
Thanks to Nimonik for posting a video interview of Dianne on the Ontario approvals reform legislation.
Continue reading the post titled Video on approvals reformWas BP evil or unlucky?
Did the Gulf oil spill occur because BP was negligent or unlucky? They may have been merely unlucky; the sorts of tradeoffs that they made are likely common in the oil industry. Still, it was inevitable, given the scale of the spill, that BP would be vilified and probably prosecuted. It is …
Continue reading the post titled Was BP evil or unlucky?Treaty on Mercury?
A global agreement to restrict the use of mercury may finally be on the way. The UN’s first intergovernmental Mercury Conference took place in Stockholm this month; the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) has released a summary of the negotiations.
Continue reading the post titled Treaty on Mercury?