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Limiting Environmental Events and More Fines
The Professor of my graduate class in Principles of Pollution Control stated if we can eliminate preliminary events (e.g., long working hours, poor maintenance, etc.), initiating or triggering events never occur; nice concept, but not so easy to execute. In an earlier blog, we said that, more often than not, human error (including communications) plays a key role in mishaps. These errors can be dangerous, costly, and can pose public relations challenges to the companies when the violation occurs. While we don’t have any unique insight with...
read moreA 10-Second Environmental Compliance Check Up
If you have a question about an environmental compliance issue, or would like us to address a specific environmental compliance issue in the future, contact Christopher Paré, P.Geo. at 519-979-4500, ext. 114. Environmental Compliance Tips 2018 October: Locating Your District MECP Contact Where do I find District assistance from the (Ontario) Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks? Type in your postal code on the District Locator Map to find your district office. September: Petroleum Spills I had a small petroleum spill, when do I...
read moreEnvironmental Liability: Communities, Buyers, Sellers, and Consultants
Environmental liability protection seems to be nothing more than paperwork … until it’s not. Who Pays for Environmental Damages? We often discuss issues surrounding environmental liability, because every time a property changes hands, this is, potentially, a very big deal. Earlier this year, my colleague Allan Clifford Lawton, discussed the Redwater Energy Case and who will pay for abandoned oil wells when an oil company goes bankrupt. The Redwater Decision has potentially far-reaching consequences across Canada. Provincial and local...
read moreWater Quality Concerns
Aside from maintaining environmental compliance, dealing with a spill, evaluating long-term remediation efforts, or assessing the environmental liability at a commercial property before your company commits, there are the big-picture environmental issues that may eventually affect you (or your client’s) business. Environmental Impacts to Water Bodies One of the big-picture issues that is important to everyone is the health of water bodies, small and large. More specifically, what future solutions may be implemented to address the issue of...
read moreEnvironmental Enforcement News Across Canada
We are taking a break from news regarding vapour intrusion, managing excess soils, and the hot button issue of PFAS to provide a brief update on environmental enforcement activity. Below are just a few of our environmental enforcement observations. Pipeline Release How we move natural resources from their point of extraction to refinement and then to actual distribution is an important issue. Mishandling these products can affect human health and the environment. We move a lot of product by way of pipeline in Canada. According to Natural...
read moreEnvironmental Regulatory Bans, Delays, and Changes
Our monthly environmental compliance tips are typically focused on daily compliance issues for the regulated community. However, it’s also important to monitor the bigger-picture environmental issues as well. Before we look at some of those larger issues we want to mention the change at Ontario Ministry of the Environment. As of June 29, 2018, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) has been renamed to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP). We have already seen policy changes (below) and...
read moreManaging Excess Soils in Ontario
How you manage excess soils is increasingly important to the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP). The MECP might be more recognizable under its former name, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC). If it’s important to the MECP, it’s important to the regulated community. Concerns about managing excess soils was mentioned as one of the top environmental management priorities for the regulated community in our recent survey. That’s not surprising, as much has changed since our April 2016 article in...
read moreSoil Vapour Intrusion: A Complex and Challenging Process
Last year, my colleagues “set out” to compile vapour intrusion (VI) standards in each Canadian Province, as well as in each US State. This effort, we soon found out, was not as easy as we had envisioned. More on these findings later. Understanding Vapour Intrusion Let’s begin by establishing the VI framework. Vapour intrusion is a process by which chemicals from soil and groundwater volatilize and migrate into buildings. These underlying vapours can find their way into buildings through cracks, sump pumps, and utility corridors. VI was...
read moreInsurance Companies Targeted by Environmentalists
For 30 years, Dragun has provided litigation support on a variety of environmental issues, so we always keep an eye on what is happening with potential environmental litigation activity. Environmental Groups have long targeted various industries or industry groups for their perceived violations of the public trust, specifically the environment. Historical Environmental Issues Early grass root efforts focused on mismanagement of waste by-products that led to the severely-polluted Cuyahoga River in Ohio, the Sydney Tar Ponds in Nova Scotia, or...
read moreEnvironmental Issues Most Important to You
What’s the most important environmental issue to you? This is the question we have asked the last two years while attending the CANECT Environmental Compliance and Due Diligence Training Conference in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Just as last year, the entire survey consisted of one question: “What is the most important environmental issue facing the regulated community in Ontario or Canada wide?” We offered no explanation beyond this. We spoke with people from a wide range of industry groups, municipal governments, lawyers, consultants...
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