Blue Heron Deaths Results in $2.75M Fine
On January 2, 2019 Syncrude Canada Ltd. pled guilty in the Alberta Court to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 along with several provincial charges. An abandoned sump pond by Syncrude at one of its oilsands mines north of Fort McMurray resulted in the death of 3…
View the post titled Blue Heron Deaths Results in $2.75M FineClean Air court win for US Environmental Protection Agency
The US Environmental Protection Agency has won an important court victory that may help clean the air in Ontario. About half of the air pollution in southern Ontario blows in from the US, mostly from coal-fired power generation stations. The EPA has been trying, for many years, to force thos…
View the post titled Clean Air court win for US Environmental Protection AgencyAir pollution: They're cleaner than you think?
Ontario’s air pollution regulation, 419/05, uses an American computer model to estimate how much air pollution from a stationary source reaches a point of impingement, usually the property boundary. This model, AERMOD, is used to determine whether organizations are complying with air e…
View the post titled Air pollution: They're cleaner than you think?Pesticide crimes by Scotts, largest fine, 50 years after Silent Spring
In September, the Scotts Miracle-Gro pesticide company was sentenced to pay the largest ever criminal penalty, and the largest ever civil penalty, for deliberate violations of the US Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Scott’s sold 70 million pounds of bird foo…
View the post titled Pesticide crimes by Scotts, largest fine, 50 years after Silent SpringGHG regulation by US EPA upheld
Can the US Environmental Protection Agency enforce its ambitious greenhouse gas emission rules under the Clean Air Act? Yes, according to the Endangerment Opinion of the District of Columbia US Court of Appeals:
View the post titled GHG regulation by US EPA upheldLead from airplanes still widespread
In 2003, Friends of the Earth petitioned the US EPAto get lead out of aviation gasoline. While there had been much discussion about taking lead out of racing vehicle gasoline, aviation gasoline actually releases much more lead into the environment than racing.
View the post titled Lead from airplanes still widespreadWhat will the new TCE health classification mean?
Now that the US EPA has classified TCE as a carcinogen, and dangerous at levels previously believed to be safe, what will happen to risk assessments and other regulatory decision-making in Ontario? Noted risk assessor, Brett Ibbotson, tells me that the new numbers are two to four times as st…
View the post titled What will the new TCE health classification mean?Yes, TCE is a carcinogen
After 22 years of study, and intense political maneuvering, the US Environmental Protection Agency has formally classified TCE (trichloroethene, also called trichloroethylene) as a carcinogen, as well as a non-cancer hazard to human health. The assessment is now a formal part of the the Inte…
View the post titled Yes, TCE is a carcinogenPolluter must pay for cleanup, twice
It’s not safe for a polluter to trust a subsequent owner to clean up contamination, even if the polluter has specifically paid for the cleanup, and even if the new owner signs a contract relieving the original polluter of liability. None of this will prevent environmental regulators from ord…
View the post titled Polluter must pay for cleanup, twiceOzone: health or money?
Despite strong scientific evidence that current permitted ozone levels cause harm to human health, President Obama has decided not to cut them. This will likely lead to lawsuits, as the Clean Air Act requires EPA to set air levels that protect human health. And Canada, as usual, will probabl…
View the post titled Ozone: health or money?Receive Blog Posts
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