Home Insurance and the Pollution Exclusion
A BC court has upheld the pollution exclusion in a home insurance policy. The issue was the scope of the “pollution exclusion” clause in a policy of home insurance issued by the defendant, BCAA Insurance Corporation, to the plaintiff, Brian Corbould. Corbould sought a declaration of coverage…
View the post titled Home Insurance and the Pollution ExclusionRusting wrecks an oil spill timebomb?
Who will pay for cleaning up oil from a 70-year-old wreck? The owner of the ship, who may be long gone, or the Armed Forces that sank it?
View the post titled Rusting wrecks an oil spill timebomb?Hungarian sludge spill and our tailings ponds
The Hungarian sludge spill disaster is just another reminder of the large scale havoc and devastation that industrial sludge impoundments can create. Every few years we read about another one. On April 25, 1998, a tailings dam failure of the Los Frailes lead-zinc mine at Aznalcóllar near Sev…
View the post titled Hungarian sludge spill and our tailings pondsGulf Spill: the end of the beginning
It will take many years to understand the total impact of this spill, the largest man-made environmental catastrophe in US history.
View the post titled Gulf Spill: the end of the beginningHidden 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!Photos of the BP spill and cleanup
It is wonderful to hear how quickly the surface soil is disappearing from the Gulf of Mexico. Dec Doran of Oil Spill Control has graciously allowed me to post his photos from the BP spill cleanup in the Gulf. His key take-home message: watch out for those alligators! PART 1 BP OIL SPILL RESP…
View the post titled Photos of the BP spill and cleanupBP and bad regulators: Minerals Management Service
One of the biggest scandals surrounding the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was the incompetence and worse of its regulator, the Minerals Management Service. Can pro-energy regulators also protect the environment? It seems unlikely.
View the post titled BP and bad regulators: Minerals Management ServiceFirst, do no harm: controlled burns and sea turtles
A coalition of animal protection and conservation groups filed a lawsuit on June 30 to stop BP from conducting “controlled burns” of spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico. They allege that protected and endangered sea turtles were being incinerated alive.,
View the post titled First, do no harm: controlled burns and sea turtlesPublic risk, private profits – why cap liability?
Humans are not perfect. Engineering, while amazing, is not perfect. Accidents ( including spills) will happen. What should environmental law, and lawyers, do about it?
View the post titled Public risk, private profits – why cap liability?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?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.