Public Interest Intervention in Private Environmental Disputes
A recent decision from the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Huang v Fraser Hillary’s Limited, 2018 ONCA 277, underscores the challenges faced by parties seeking to intervene in private environmental disputes. Background Fraser Hillary’s Limited (“FHL”) is the corporate owner of a property in Ottawa where it operates a dry-cleaning business. The owner of an...
Continue reading the post titled Public Interest Intervention in Private Environmental DisputesStanding on Contaminated Sites
BC’s most important contaminated sites decision is being appealed, and representatives of the public interest want a say. Surprisingly, the Court of Appeal has granted standing to an NGO as well as the Attorney General, both to argue for a broader interpretation of BC’s Environmental Management Act. In Gehring v. Chevron Canada Limited, the owner of a former...
Continue reading the post titled Standing on Contaminated SitesBerendsen Changes the Rules for Contaminated Sites
Every so often, a court decision changes the rules. Everyone interested in contaminated sites needs to understand what Berendsen v. Ontario has changed.At first glance, there is nothing unusual about the facts. Farmer buys land for dream dairy farm. The cows become sick; he loses money. He blames contamination, from waste asphalt buried on the...
Continue reading the post titled Berendsen Changes the Rules for Contaminated SitesGarbage Fire Jail Appeal
This Thursday, the three people jailed for Vaughan’s massive 2004 garbage fire will seek bail pending appeal. To put their case in context, here are some of the other jail sentences imposed for environmental offences in Canada, over the last fifteen years:
Continue reading the post titled Garbage Fire Jail Appeal$150,000 fine for $2 million chemical spill
Chemtura Canada, a chemical manufacturing company in Elmira, Ontario, was fined $150,00 for discharging 4200 kg of BLE-25 and 112 kg of acetone into the air.
Continue reading the post titled $150,000 fine for $2 million chemical spillU.S. upsurge in environmental enforcement
Since Canada usually follows the US on environmental matters, it’s exciting to see that significant improvements have begun in US environmental enforcement. US EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, has signalled a renewed emphasis on “environmental justice”, the exposure of poor and minority communities to much higher levels of industrial pollution. More generally, she has promised a...
Continue reading the post titled U.S. upsurge in environmental enforcementGreen Energy Act Regulations released
The Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources have released draft regulations that could allow them to start issuing renewable energy approvals early next year.
Continue reading the post titled Green Energy Act Regulations releasedCourt of Appeal overturns Berendsen
The most lasting impact of Berendsen may be Judge Seppi's trenchant criticism of the MOE's standard-setting process, and its failure to consider either cumulative effects or special sensitivities of some species.
Continue reading the post titled Court of Appeal overturns Berendsen$25,000 fine for unreported waste oil spill
Huron District Contracting Limited was fined $25,000, plus a victim fine surcharge of $6,250, for spilling petroleum hydrocarbons from a waste oil tank. Huron District Contracting does marine construction and excavation near Goderich, Ontario. According to the Ministry of the Environment, “While an employee was moving an above ground storage tank containing waste oil and other products,...
Continue reading the post titled $25,000 fine for unreported waste oil spillEnvironmental Approvals – Failure to Register EASR
On January 11, 2019 Ace Auto Parts Inc. pled guilty for failing to register an End-of-Life Vehicle site on the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (“EASR”) resulting in a fine of $3,000 plus the 25% Victim Fine Surcharge. Ace Auto Parts Inc. was given a period of six months to pay the fine. We note...
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