Anti-fracking bylaws: US Lawyer wins green Nobel prize
Helen Slottje, a lawyer in Ithaca, New York, was recently awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work “helping towns across New York defend themselves from oil and gas companies by passing local bans on fracking” (the US equivalent of anti-fracking bylaws). Her legal res…
View the post titled Anti-fracking bylaws: US Lawyer wins green Nobel prizeMore on killing birds with buildings as an environmental offence
Ecojustice has settled its bird-killing prosecution against the Menkes Developments (Consilium Place) office complex. As described in a previous post, Ecojustice (as counsel for Ontario Nature) charged Menkes with environmental offences. They proved that these buildings were unusually danger…
View the post titled More on killing birds with buildings as an environmental offenceLondon fined $20,000 for wastewater plant spill
The City of London was fined $20,000, plus the 25% victim fine surcharge, for breaching its Ministry of the Environment approval for a wastewater treatment plant, contrary to the Ontario Water Resources Act. The City of London owns and operates the Greenway Pollution Control Centre. The faci…
View the post titled London fined $20,000 for wastewater plant spillCan investigators be personally liable for the damage they do to their suspects?
The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that it is not “plain and obvious” that regulatory investigators owe no duty of care to suspects under investigation. The same logic should apply to environmental investigators: shouldn’t they be personally liable to their suspects, if they misuse …
View the post titled Can investigators be personally liable for the damage they do to their suspects?Is parent company liable for crimes of foreign subsidiary?
The Ontario Superior Court has dismissed Hudbay Minerals’ motion to strike out the claims against it, and its subsidiary, for rapes and other human rights abuses allegedly committed in Guatemala. The Court concluded that the plaintiffs’ claim, that the Canadian parent company is …
View the post titled Is parent company liable for crimes of foreign subsidiary?For environmental liability, who is an "officer"?
Who is an “officer”? Section 194 of the Ontario Environmental Protection Act imposes substantial duties on corporate officers and directors, without defining who they are. It is essential for people to know whether these duties and this environmental liability applies to them. If…
View the post titled For environmental liability, who is an "officer"?Baker (Northstar Directors') liability appeal has settled
Ten corporate officers and directors have paid $4.75 million to be released from the Northstar Canada cleanup order, even though the Ministry of the Environment admits that none of them were at fault for causing the contamination. Some were not even on the Northstar Canada board. The Enviro…
View the post titled Baker (Northstar Directors') liability appeal has settledMOE Director admits that the Northstar directors were not polluters
Our high-stakes case, appealing the imposition of infinite retroactive personal liability on directors for contamination they did not cause, will be heard by the Environmental Review Tribunal starting October 28. Initial witness statements in Baker v Director, Ministry of the Environment we…
View the post titled MOE Director admits that the Northstar directors were not pollutersImposing liability on the innocent bad news for economy
Current Ministry of the Environment efforts to impose environmental cleanup liability on the innocent are bad news for the Ontario economy, according to an Expert Report by noted economist Sherry Cooper. They are also harmful to the social contract and the rule of law, according to Dianne…
View the post titled Imposing liability on the innocent bad news for economyMinistry of Transport pays $250,000 for Fisheries Act charges
Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation has plead guilty to two charges under the old federal Fisheries Act, and has agreed to pay a $250,000 penalty. The charges were laid by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and relate to sediment released from a Highway 11 construction project near B…
View the post titled Ministry of Transport pays $250,000 for Fisheries Act chargesReceive Blog Posts
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