Export and Import of Hazardous waste
In late December, we were successful in having Environment Canada drop all charges against one of our clients. To the considerable fright of company staff, Environment Canada had executed a very public search warrant, with a huge search team, and had seized boxes of documents. Months later, …
View the post titled Export and Import of Hazardous wasteNTREE Reality Check on Climate Change
The National Round Table on Environment and Economy today issued an refreshingly hardheaded report: Getting to 2050: Canada’s Transition to a Low-emission Future. The report is a rebuke and a challenge to the absence of federal leadership on climate change, and to our failure to take concret…
View the post titled NTREE Reality Check on Climate ChangeCompensation for buyers of already contaminated sites?
When contamination flows offsite, can a subsequent purchaser of the downgradient parcel successfully sue the upgradient polluter? Most caselaw suggests that the buyer is out of luck. Caveat emptor, let the buyer beware, is still a fundamental principle of real estate law. The buyer who asks …
View the post titled Compensation for buyers of already contaminated sites?Oil spill insurance coverage
Homeowners frequently want to sue their insurers for fuel oil contamination, even if they only have third party coverage. Several years ago, many insurers amended their policies to remove first party (own property) coverage for oil spills, unless homeowners paid a special premium. Few paid t…
View the post titled Oil spill insurance coverageReporting GHG for 2006: Once More With Feeling
After ducking out of an earlier public session, Canada’s Environment Minister announced Canada’s climate change program at Bali yesterday. His big news? Canada will collect some more information about how many greenhouse gases we emit. It’s hard to get excited about this…
View the post titled Reporting GHG for 2006: Once More With FeelingStanding on Contaminated Sites
BC’s most important contaminated sites decision is being appealed, and representatives of the public interest want a say. Surprisingly, the Court of Appeal has granted standing to an NGO as well as the Attorney General, both to argue for a broader interpretation of BC’s Environme…
View the post titled Standing on Contaminated SitesLegal Consequences for flouting Kyoto?
The science of climate change is now clear; what will the legal consequences be? With the release of their fourth report, the Nobel-Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has confirmed it: the climate is changing faster than anyone thought possible, and it’s because o…
View the post titled Legal Consequences for flouting Kyoto?Windpower – a cautionary tale
As the scientific evidence of climate change becomes ever more frightening, the collapse of Skypower Wind Energy Fund LP offers a cautionary tale of the barriers faced by renewable energy. Two years ago, this partnership raised $77 million to build a 201 MW wind energy plant in Riviere-du-Lo…
View the post titled Windpower – a cautionary taleCarbon Offsets as Presents
Looking for low carbon presents? Want to assuage your guilt about flying this holiday season, while helping others? We did! We were delighted to find that it is quick and easy, though not cheap, to buy carbon offset credits for clients and colleagues, and even for ourselves. The average Cana…
View the post titled Carbon Offsets as PresentsBrownfields Progress?
This week, Ontario’s Brownfields Stakeholder Group was delighted to hear that progress is being made on some old problems. For example: 1. Escheats: When a company is dissolved, its remaining assets go automatically to the Crown. As a result, the province ends up (without its knowledg…
View the post titled Brownfields Progress?Receive Blog Posts
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