Environmental management issues go beyond a cut-and-dried reading and application of the regulations. Often there is more than just “scientific facts” and a strict reading of the regulations. Sometimes perceptions and sentiment trump facts, and sometimes the regulations have not caught up with the science. This extra-regulatory approach to environmental management is often lumped under what is referred to as a social licence. Defining Social Licence The idea of a social...
Read MoreLimiting 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...
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...
Read MoreSolving Groundwater Contamination: Another Piece of the Puzzle
In explaining how you go about solving complex soil and groundwater problems, we’ve used various analogies over the years, including putting together pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and assembling building blocks to develop a robust conceptual site model. The point being, soil and groundwater assessment and remediation can be complex, and in order to find the best solution, you will often need more than one tool and/or one discipline to get you to your end point. Dr. Fatemeh...
Read MoreCanada-Ontario Draft Action Plan for Phosphorus Control
Walkerton, Ontario – E. coli; Flint, Michigan – lead; and Toledo, Ohio – cyanobacteria. The common denominator is that all were public health issues involving drinking water. With these, in some cases, tragic incidents as background, there is increased focus on public water supply and infrastructure. And because there is a direct correlation between nutrient loading in lakes and algal blooms/cyanobacteria, there is a focus on the impact of nutrients on...
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