Provincial budget: environmental fees going up more
Here are some excerpts from last week’s Ontario provincial budget, promising further increases in fees relating to the environment. Contaminated sites fees, water taking charges, fees for environmental compliance approvals and for hazardous waste will all go up by almost $10 million. T…
View the post titled Provincial budget: environmental fees going up moreMine or hauler: Who's responsible for Waste PCB Oil?
In Enviro West Inc. v. Copper Mountain Mining Corp. a waste hauler was hired to remove waste oil from a transformer at a mine. Despite several oral and written warnings, the hauler didn’t realize the oil was heavily contaminated with PCBs. As a result, the hauler mixed the PCBs with ot…
View the post titled Mine or hauler: Who's responsible for Waste PCB Oil?Compost maker fined $125,000
Compost maker Scott Environmental Group Limited has been fined $125,000 plus the 25% victim fine surcharge, for breaching multiple conditions of its Certificate of Approval. Scott (operating as Norterra Organics in Kingston) pleaded guilty to accepting too much daily waste, storing more than…
View the post titled Compost maker fined $125,000Documents 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 seizureEveryone liable for PCB-contaminated oil
A British Columbia used oil company has successfully sued the owner of a PCB transformer, and everyone down a contractual chain, for failing to warn them that the oil was almost pure PCBs. It was awarded $776,033.75.
View the post titled Everyone liable for PCB-contaminated oilHazardous waste nonsuit decision
As mentioned last week, we won a rare non-suit motion in the Ontario Court of Justice on three counts, each against three defendants charged with improperly managing hazardous waste at a transfer site, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act. In each case, the Ministry of the Environme…
View the post titled Hazardous waste nonsuit decisionSuccessful nonsuits- hazardous waste
Successful non-suits of environmental prosecutions are rare. A non-suit is granted only when the Crown has failed to offer any evidence, no matter how manifestly unreliable, of the essential elements of the offences charged. I was therefore particularly pleased to achieve three non-suits o…
View the post titled Successful nonsuits- hazardous wasteCan Orange Drop survive without EcoFee?
In all the fuss about the EcoFee, no one seems to have noticed Orange Drop. The much maligned EcoFee was a system to have purchasers of household hazardous products pay for the proper disposal of those products, instead of loading the cost on municipalities or future generations. Orange Dro…
View the post titled Can Orange Drop survive without EcoFee?E-waste enforcement growing across borders
Electronic waste, or ‘e-waste’, has become a significant international environmental enforcement challenge. Each year, hundreds of thousands of used electronic items – containing highly toxic substances like lead, mercury and cadmium – are shipped across the world. Some provinces, like B.C.…
View the post titled E-waste enforcement growing across bordersEco fee reset
Ontario takes a second stab at funding household hazardous waste collection.
View the post titled Eco fee resetReceive Blog Posts
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