Erickson wind appeal delay
The Environmental Review Tribunal is hearing final arguments this week in Erickson v. Director, Ministry of the Environment. This is the first ERT appeal on renewable energy approvals under the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, and the first renewable energy approval for a major wind farm …
View the post titled Erickson wind appeal delayWater meters inexorable
Pay for use or flat rates? Flat rates are often popular, but they are poor public policy. Flat rates encourage waste. Flat rates discourage conservation of water and energy, and devalue their importance. Flat rates make conscientious citizens pay for the bad habits of wasteful neighbours. An…
View the post titled Water meters inexorablePharmaceuticals, drinking water, and liability
The better our detection ability becomes, the more things we find in the water. One important group of those things is pharmaceuticals and their metabolites. Pharmaceuticals are specifically designed to affect the bodies, brains and behaviour of humans and other animals, at comparatively low…
View the post titled Pharmaceuticals, drinking water, and liabilityContaminated sites reminder
If a qualified person and owner of property wish to have a record of site condition (RSC) filed and acknowledged before the changes come into effect, and have not yet submitted the RSC, the Ministry strongly encourages them to submit the RSC with all required documentation well before Jun…
View the post titled Contaminated sites reminderSpring flooding and climate change
One of the key forecasts that Natural Resources Canada made, years ago, about climate change was that it would increase spring flooding and severe storms. This spring there are catastrophic floods and tornadoes in both Canada and the US. Is climate change partly to blame? Here is Living on E…
View the post titled Spring flooding and climate changeFracking, methane and drinking water
The Ernst v. Encana fracking lawsuit gained strength this month with the publication of Rob Jackson’s peer-reviewed paper: Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Jackson is a professor at Duke University, and his paper is publis…
View the post titled Fracking, methane and drinking waterToxics/ GHG reporting deadline put off
On May 14, 2011, Environment Canada issued a notice extending a filing deadline for their federal GHG and National Pollutant Release Inventory programs until June 17, 2011. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has authorized a matching delay for the 2011 annual reports under the Toxics R…
View the post titled Toxics/ GHG reporting deadline put offWas I right about air?
Was I right about air regulation 419/05? Ten years ago, the Ministry of the Environment asked for my opinion on the regulatory reform initiative that culminated in the new air regulation, O.Reg. 419/05. I wrote a column about it in the August/September 2001 issue of Hazardous Materials Manag…
View the post titled Was I right about air?Do turbines affect property values?
The Assessment Review Board has heard an appeal from the tax assessment of a couple who say their valuation should be reduced because of a nearby wind farm. Appeal 318664 was launched by Wolfe Island residents Ed and Gail Kenney, and is opposed by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporatio…
View the post titled Do turbines affect property values?Gas from fracking dirtier than coal?
Hydraulic fracturing, in pursuit of shale gas, can cause serious groundwater problems, which are sometimes excused on the ground that the climate needs natural gas to displace coal. It’s therefore shocking to learn that shale gas could have worse GHG emissions than coal, according to a…
View the post titled Gas from fracking dirtier than coal?Receive Blog Posts
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