Mine 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?Sydney Tar Ponds class action certified
After eight years of legal wrangling, the Sydney Tar Ponds class action has finally been certified. However, the plaintiffs’ chances of ultimate success will be significantly reduced if the Smith v. Inco decision stands.
View the post titled Sydney Tar Ponds class action certifiedEnvironmental causes of action
The recent Court of Appeal decision in Smith v Inco is requiring Canadian environmental lawyers to carefully rethink environmental causes of action–who can sue who for what? How can Smith v. Inco be reconciled with St. Lawrence Cement v. Barrette? (Different type of nuisance). Why can non-to…
View the post titled Environmental causes of actionFracking, drinking water and regulation
Jessica Ernst has launched a multi million dollar lawsuit against Encana Corporation, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, and the Alberta government for contamination of her property and drinking water due to Encana’s fracking program. Encana fractures rock to extract coal…
View the post titled Fracking, drinking water and regulationWhat do we owe our neighbours?
Property owners must not worsen problems faced by their neighbours. In Donley Investments Ltd. v. Canril Corp., Canril owned a vacant commercial property at 90 George Street in Ottawa, one inch west of the Donley building. The Donley basement began flooding in February 2003, after a broken C…
View the post titled What do we owe our neighbours?Hidden contamination: it wasn’t my tank!
Two Vancouver families have had an expensive nightmare due to an leaking underground storage tank.
View the post titled Hidden contamination: it wasn’t my tank!Was BP evil or unlucky?
Did the Gulf oil spill occur because BP was negligent or unlucky? They may have been merely unlucky; the sorts of tradeoffs that they made are likely common in the oil industry. Still, it was inevitable, given the scale of the spill, that BP would be vilified and probably prosecuted. It is …
View the post titled Was BP evil or unlucky?Transit class action, EA and the St. Clair Streetcar
Curactive Organic Skin Care is starting a class action over the St. Clair streetcar. It wants to sue the Ontario government, Toronto and the TTC for $105 million in damages. Curactive says hundreds of small businesses lost money, due to delays in transit construction, and to changes in the d…
View the post titled Transit class action, EA and the St. Clair StreetcarOil sands tailing wastes and dead ducks
In Alberta provincial court, Syncrude is on trial for the death of 1600 migratory ducks, who were unable to escape from its oil sands tailing ponds in 2008. Federal and provincial governments allow Syncrude to create the giant, deadly ponds, as long as they take reasonable care to frighten t…
View the post titled Oil sands tailing wastes and dead ducksWhy do new fuel tanks leak?
New fuel tanks leak because our safety standards are too lax, according to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. In Muskoka Fuels v Hassan Steel Fabricators, the plaintiff petroleum distributor purchased a fuel tank manufactured by Hassan. Diesel oil leaked from the tank into a bog less th…
View the post titled Why do new fuel tanks leak?Receive Blog Posts
By subscribing to our blog, you will receive an email when a new post is added. You can unsubscribe at any time by sending an email to us at [email protected] with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line.