Fairness, non-polluter pays and Kawartha Lakes
Should municipalities have to pay to cleanup private spills? See today’s article in Lawyer’s Weekly.
View the post titled Fairness, non-polluter pays and Kawartha LakesMore thoughts about fairness
The Nova Scotia Law Reform Commission wrestled recently with the concept of fairness in environmental liability, especially in relation to retroactive laws and joint and several liability. It is interesting to compare this to the ERT decision in Kawartha Lakes in November:
View the post titled More thoughts about fairnessNew rules on moving soil
New rules should significantly increase the cost of disposing of surplus soils from construction projects.
View the post titled New rules on moving soil"Enhanced" Records of Site Condition
According to the Ministry of the Environment, one of its key changes to Reg. 153/04 (in Reg. 511/09) are its “enhancements” to the Record of Site Condition process. These “enhancements” have three major components: A quality control / audit process for Records of Site Condition, before they …
View the post titled "Enhanced" Records of Site ConditionReg. 511/09: did they really mean this?
Some of the previously unannounced Reg. 511/09 amendments to Ontario’s brownfields regulation, 153/04, seem to have unexpected effects. For example, wells for dewatering or for groundwater treatment may now require every property within 250 metres to use potable (not non-potable) clean…
View the post titled Reg. 511/09: did they really mean this?New brownfields rules
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has quietly adopted sweeping changes to the regulation of brownfields and other contaminated sites. Some of the changes were extensively reviewed with stakeholders during the past three years; others were surprises: See the 87 pages of Regulation 511/0…
View the post titled New brownfields rulesDownloading liability on municipalities
Senior governments seem to have no shame about downloading enormous, undisclosed environmental liabilities on municipalities. In an English case, Corby Group Litigation v. Corby District Council, the Corby Borough Council (CBC) has been held liable for allowing residents to become exposed t…
View the post titled Downloading liability on municipalitiesWhy is fairness irrelevant?
Innocent parties forced to pay unfair environmental costs should seek compensation in the civil courts, and should not expect any help from the ERT.
View the post titled Why is fairness irrelevant?Buy contaminated site, then sue?
I have never understood why so many people think they can knowingly buy a contaminated site and then force someone else to clean it up.
View the post titled Buy contaminated site, then sue?Court of Appeal overturns Berendsen
The most lasting impact of Berendsen may be Judge Seppi's trenchant criticism of the MOE's standard-setting process, and its failure to consider either cumulative effects or special sensitivities of some species.
View the post titled Court of Appeal overturns BerendsenReceive Blog Posts
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