The up to date brownfields tables, with 2004 comparisons
Maxxam Analytics has kindly allowed me to post their very useful Reg 153 Comparison Charts (2004 vs 2011) tables, comparing the 2004 soil and groundwater cleanup standards to the new ones that came into effect July 1, 2011. The Ministry of the Environment confusingly named these the Soil, Gr…
Continue reading the post titled The up to date brownfields tables, with 2004 comparisonsWaste diversion, odour and climate change
Clare Booth Luce, the famous American playwright, journalist, ambassador, and Congresswoman, used to say, “no good deed goes unpunished”. To my regret, this sardonic and rather depressing phrase is, all too often, a good description of environmental laws. One example is the management of odo…
Continue reading the post titled Waste diversion, odour and climate changeFriends of Wind public meeting
On July 26, about 90 people gathered in Clinton, Ontario, for an enthusiastic public meeting of the Friends of Wind, a group of volunteers dedicated to counteracting “anti-wind” advocacy. One of the goals of Friends of Wind is to encourage community groups to develop and operate …
Continue reading the post titled Friends of Wind public meetingManitoba bottled water ban
Manitoba government has stopped using public money to buy single use bottles of water. The new policy bans the use of provincial funds to buy water in small (1L or less) bottles, if safe tap water is reasonably available. Another outbreak of common sense!
Continue reading the post titled Manitoba bottled water banSocial Cost of Carbon
How much should we spend reducing carbon emissions? What will the cost be if we don’t? US federal lawmakers are required to consider the “social cost of carbon” when issuing significant rules, as part of their overall cost/benefit analysis. But how do they calculate it?
Continue reading the post titled Social Cost of CarbonGet It In Writing! (Reason # 324 and Counting)
One of the messages that we deliver to clients all the time is the importance of using written employment agreements for all employees. A recent case from the Ontario Court of Appeal stands for the proposition that the unskilled nature of employment is no longer much of a factor in determini…
Continue reading the post titled Get It In Writing! (Reason # 324 and Counting)Drive Clean false claims fined
1231028 Ontario Limited O/A Fallingbrook Auto Garage and John Sookrah were fined $45,000 for Drive Clean Violations. Mr. Sookrah was a certified drive clean inspector, who claimed to have tested eight vehicles . Investigators observed that the vehicles listed on the vehicle emissions inspect…
Continue reading the post titled Drive Clean false claims finedWhat was she thinking?
In R. v. Matchim, a recent case before the Ontario Court of Justice (March 18 2011), firefighters extinguished a blaze in the basement of a home on Vincent Street, in Newmarket. An explosion then occurred in the main sanitary sewer line on the street.
Continue reading the post titled What was she thinking?MacQueen v. Canada class action
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has certified a massive class action by Sydney residents against the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia, relating to contamination from the notorious Sydney tar ponds, and the associated steel mill and coke ovens from the old Sydney Steel.
Continue reading the post titled MacQueen v. Canada class actionNova Scotia serious about green electricity
Nova Scotia wants 25% renewable electricity by 2015, and is moving aggressively to achieve it. The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board has announced the rates for the new feed in tariff scheme under the Renewable Electricity Plan. Full details can be viewed here but in brief the rates are:
Continue reading the post titled Nova Scotia serious about green electricity