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Published on: 30 Jul 2014 By (Dianne Saxe)

Environmental consultant’s negligence claim to proceed

Environmental consultant’s negligence claims for failing to clean up contaminated sites continue to multiply. The Ontario Superior Court recently allowed a professional negligence lawsuit to go ahead against an Ontario environmental consultant, XCG, despite a long delay, which,  accord…

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Published on: 16 Jun 2014 By

Alberta TCE class action – claims in trespass, nuisance, Rylands v. Fletcher dismissed

Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) operated a train repair facility, known as the Ogden shops, since the early 1900s in a heavily industrialized area outside Calgary. Over the years, a residential area grew up around the shops. TCE was used as a degreaser in the shops from the mid-1950s to the m…

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Published on: 21 Nov 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Can 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 …

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Published on: 13 Mar 2013 By (Dianne Saxe)

Sunrise Propane explosion – landlords added to class action

Here’s an update on the Sunrise Propane explosion in Downsview, Ontario, and the gradual progress of the class action by the aggrieved neighbours. In July 2012, the Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice certified a class action against all proposed defendants except the Teskey defendants, whic…

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Published on: 27 Nov 2012 By (Dianne Saxe)

Town liable for negligence re developer's storm sewer

Property owners often suffered damage when storm and sanitary sewers malfunction. Canadian municipalities are generally exempt from civil suits in nuisance relating to their sewers, due to special statutes adopted across the country. However, they can be successfully sued in negligence. Such…

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Published on: 11 Oct 2012 By (Dianne Saxe)

Enviro West v Copper Mountain, everyone is liable

A long running lawsuit over liability for PCB wastes may finally be over. In Enviro West Inc v. Copper Mountain Mining Corp.  a waste hauler, Enviro West, unknowingly picked up waste oil highly contaminated with PCBs and mixed it with uncontaminated oil, resulting in substantial damages. At …

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Published on: 16 Aug 2012 By (Dianne Saxe)

Science, proof and causation: when courts and scientists disagree

Bad science should be thrown out of court. When alleged scientific data fails to meet relevant, objective quality standards specifically developed for that kind of data, no one knows whether the claimed result is either reliable or correct. It is fundamentally unfair to punish anyone base…

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