Liability insurer need not pay for voluntary delineation and cleanup
According to Ontario’s Court of Appeal, General Electric Canada (GE) can’t make its liability insurer pay for the delineation and cleanup of a former GE property contaminated with trichloroethylene (“TCE”), because it voluntarily complied with a Ministry of the Environment …
View the post titled Liability insurer need not pay for voluntary delineation and cleanupAttacks escalating on environmental charities
Just as the Federal Budget spends $8 million to increase the burdens on charities to prove that they are staying away from political activities, the oil industry is trying to get Environmental Defence’s charitable registration revoked. The lobby group that calls itself Ethical Oil has …
View the post titled Attacks escalating on environmental charitiesCreditor or regulator? Nortel, the MOE and environment v insolvency
If there are continuing operations, there has to be ongoing compliance with environmental legislation. But if there are no ongoing operations, the environmental regulator has to rely on its security, failing which it has unsecured status.
View the post titled Creditor or regulator? Nortel, the MOE and environment v insolvencyOdour control tax credit
I was delighted to learn about Manitoba’s Odour Control Tax Credit, even if it is about to expire.
View the post titled Odour control tax creditNuclear Liability caps in Japan
Japan has nuclear liability caps much higher than those in Canada. Under the Law on Compensation for Nuclear Damage, plant operator liability is exclusive and absolute, and power plant operators must provide a ‘financial security amount’ of ¥120 billion ($1.2 billion), 16 times t…
View the post titled Nuclear Liability caps in JapanHome Insurance and the Pollution Exclusion
A BC court has upheld the pollution exclusion in a home insurance policy. The issue was the scope of the “pollution exclusion” clause in a policy of home insurance issued by the defendant, BCAA Insurance Corporation, to the plaintiff, Brian Corbould. Corbould sought a declaration of coverage…
View the post titled Home Insurance and the Pollution ExclusionDocuments excluded after illegal seizure
Environmental investigators are not allowed to seize private documents unless they have prior judicial authorization (i.e., a search warrant) or the consent of the owner of the documents. However, this does not always stop them.
View the post titled Documents excluded after illegal seizureModel contract for engineers and their clients
We are frequently consulted on disputes over the wording of contracts between environmental engineers and their clients. Some contracts are just badly drafted, so it’s hard to know what they mean. Others are clearly drafted, but don’t describe what the client was promised. Some …
View the post titled Model contract for engineers and their clientsFinancial Assurance and HST
Should financial assurance include HST? Financial assurance is designed to ensure that taxpayer doesn’t have to pay the bill, if an industrial operation becomes insolvent, abandoning an environmental mess. Most businesses provide financial assurance by posting cash or letter of credit.…
View the post titled Financial Assurance and HSTTransocean seeks to cap liability for Gulf spill
One of the biggest ways that our legal system contributes to enormous, high-risk accidents, is to allow those responsible to limit their financial liability. This allows them to raise money from investors, and obtain insurance, for high-risk activities that the government wishes to support.…
View the post titled Transocean seeks to cap liability for Gulf spillReceive Blog Posts
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