TransCanada to sue US under NAFTA over Keystone XL decision
Calgary-based pipeline company TransCanada has filed a Notice of Intent to Arbitrate (“Notice”) under article 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”). It issued the Notice in response to US president Barack Obama’s November 6, 2015 refusal to grant the necessary approval to complete construction of Keystone XL, a proposed trans-national pipeline that would deliver crude oil...
Continue reading the post titled TransCanada to sue US under NAFTA over Keystone XL decisionShell fined $500,000, pays $200,000 to First Nation following 2013 spill
In case you missed it, nearly 3 years following the event, Shell Canada Ltd has been sentenced for a spill of “flare knock-out liquids” at a Sarnia-area refinery. The January 2013 spill affected members of the nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation, who experienced a variety of adverse health effects (including sore eyes and throats, vomiting, nausea,...
Continue reading the post titled Shell fined $500,000, pays $200,000 to First Nation following 2013 spillHalf of World’s Natural Heritage Sites Are Under Threat
A chilling report recently released by WWF (formerly World Wildlife Fund) has found that nearly half of the world’s UNESCO-designated natural World Heritage Sites are threatened by industrial activities including oil, gas, and mineral extraction, overfishing, and illegal logging. Sadly, some of the world’s most iconic natural sites have made it onto the WWF’s list,...
Continue reading the post titled Half of World’s Natural Heritage Sites Are Under ThreatPriestly Demolition fined $70,000 for Spill and Failure to Report
The defendant, Priestly Demolition Inc. caused chlorine gas to be discharged into the environment when an employee operating a magnetic grapple attempted to move old pressurized gas cylinders. During the move, a valve snapped releasing the gas. The employee experienced a burning sensation and was taken to the hospital where he received treatment and stayed overnight....
Continue reading the post titled Priestly Demolition fined $70,000 for Spill and Failure to ReportDry Cleaner Sentenced to House Arrest for Improper Storage of Tetrachloroethylene
An Edmonton businessman and owner of a dry cleaning operation, First Class Cleaners, was given an four-month conditional sentence on that is to be served in the community. The owner of First Class Cleaners plead guilty to five Canadian Environmental Protection Act offences relating to the use of tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchloroethylene or PERC)....
Continue reading the post titled Dry Cleaner Sentenced to House Arrest for Improper Storage of TetrachloroethyleneEndangered Species Litigation in Court of Appeal
Earlier this week, two environmental groups, Wildlands League and Ontario Nature (the “Appellants”), were in the Court of Appeal for Ontario seeking to have struck down a 2013 regulation that significantly altered the regime for protecting species at risk in Ontario. When initially introduced in 2007, the Endangered Species Act (the “Act”) was hailed as...
Continue reading the post titled Endangered Species Litigation in Court of AppealEnvironmental Assessment in the Courts
A duo of recent decisions underscore yet again the need for an overhaul of the existing environmental assessment (“EA”) regime. Environmental groups Greenpeace Canada, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Northwatch, and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (the “Applicants”) filed two judicial review applications of the EAs conducted as part of the proposed expansion of a nuclear power...
Continue reading the post titled Environmental Assessment in the CourtsAnother Conviction under the Migratory Birds Convention Act
The Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (MBCA) is again being used as a tool to protect migratory birds that are also species at risk. In early April, Bergedac Ltée, and a shareholder and employee of the company, were convicted and fined a total of $12,000 for violating Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 for the destruction...
Continue reading the post titled Another Conviction under the Migratory Birds Convention ActMaking the environmental grade: Ontario leads while Canada lags
A recent report published by the Conference Board of Canada has found Ontario to be the top environmental performing province in the country based on 9 criteria. But in the larger scheme of things, the same report found that the environmental record of Canada as a whole is woefully lacking compared to that of its...
Continue reading the post titled Making the environmental grade: Ontario leads while Canada lagsMethane catastrophe in California: implications for cap and trade
Southern California is, at this very moment, in the throes of what is potentially the most prolific gas leak to have ever occurred. The disaster–a methane leak at a natural gas storage facility in Porter Ranch, California–has yet to galvanize the kind of media and popular attention that attended the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. However, particularly...
Continue reading the post titled Methane catastrophe in California: implications for cap and tradeReceive Blog Posts
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