Taking toxics home
Six young children picked up dangerous levels of lead in their family car, presumably due to family members with occupational exposure to lead.
Continue reading the post titled Taking toxics homeDownloading liability on municipalities
Senior governments seem to have no shame about downloading enormous, undisclosed environmental liabilities on municipalities. In an English case, Corby Group Litigation v. Corby District Council, the Corby Borough Council (CBC) has been held liable for allowing residents to become exposed to toxic substances during its 1980s cleanup of an old British Steel works. British...
Continue reading the post titled Downloading liability on municipalitiesWhy is fairness irrelevant?
Innocent parties forced to pay unfair environmental costs should seek compensation in the civil courts, and should not expect any help from the ERT.
Continue reading the post titled Why is fairness irrelevant?Water Opportunities and Conservation Act?
Bill 72, the Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act, 2010, passed second reading in the Ontario Legislature on September 23. It was referred to the Standing Committee on General Government, which will hold public hearings in Toronto on October 18 and 20. Important dates:
Continue reading the post titled Water Opportunities and Conservation Act?Real protection of watersheds
In the ongoing fallout of Ontario’s unfortunate response to the Walkerton water disaster, the objective of Ontario's source protection plans will be too narrow: protecting the immediate vicinity of sources of drinking water. Watersheds have many “functions” other than providing drinking water, and they cannot be successfully managed with blinders on.
Continue reading the post titled Real protection of watershedsNuclear Liability cap in Canada
As Japan battles to prevent nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, with the assistance of the International Atomic Energy Agency, anxious eyes are turning to nuclear safety in other countries. Canadian reactors boast a relatively safe design, but still require cooling, and are therefore vulnerable to a major earthquake. If a nuclear incident happened here, who would...
Continue reading the post titled Nuclear Liability cap in CanadaEnvironmental compliance approvals Sept.19
On September 19, 2011, Ontario will start to accept applications for the new class of “Environmental Compliance Approvals”. Regulation 255/11 sets out the generic requirements for applying for an ECA; individual projects will require additional information, yet to be specified.
Continue reading the post titled Environmental compliance approvals Sept.19Approvals Reform, phase 2
The Ministry of the Environment is moving into the second phase of its long-awaited comprehensive approval reforms. The first part of the new approvals framework became operational on October 31, 2011.Two more parts of this initiative are now open for public consultation. The first is
Continue reading the post titled Approvals Reform, phase 2Ministry of Education revises its Statement of Environmental Values
Ontario’s Ministry of Education has a revised Statement of Environmental Values under the Environmental Bill of Rights.
Continue reading the post titled Ministry of Education revises its Statement of Environmental ValuesThe Role of Class Actions in Price-Fixing Enforcement
Introduction I’ve spent my legal career acting for plaintiffs in price-fixing class actions, a somewhat obscure niche which, until recently, simultaneously confounded and fascinated most people I met. Last fall, the Canadian Competition Bureau raided the offices of several major grocery chains, investigating a fourteen-year price-fixing conspiracy affecting bread prices. This aroused the public’s interest...
Continue reading the post titled The Role of Class Actions in Price-Fixing EnforcementReceive Blog Posts
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