Anyone involved in health and safety or environmental protection knows how diligent you must be to guard against accidents. These accidents can lead to fines, penalties, and, in some cases, can have tragic consequences. These unfortunate consequences were highlighted in some recent news stories. Joint Enforcement on Tragic Explosion In late January 2016, it was announced that a very substantial joint prosecution (Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the...
Read MorePERC and TCE Releases
A couple of common bad environmental actors (i.e., toxic chemicals) have been in the news again recently. One news story should be a heads up for a specific industry, and the other news story is about an ongoing concern for residents of a small community. Dry Cleaner Fined About a year and a half ago, my colleague, Andrew Tymec, P.Eng., wrote a blog about enforcement actions at dry cleaners across Canada. In the blog, Andrew said, in part, “If you have dry-cleaning...
Read More“Innocence” When It Comes to Environmental Liability Means Nothing
As it relates to environmental liability in Ontario, my colleagues and I have, for several years, discussed how to best protect our clients from the creeping environmental liability in the province. For example, two years ago we wrote an article in Environmental Science and Engineering Magazine, “Property owners need to be concerned about clean up liability following the Kawartha Lakes spill.” We called the Kawartha Lakes Decision a potential game changer. In our November...
Read MoreRecent Environmental Litigation and Fines
As we wind down the year, we wanted to share just a couple of recent news items relating to fines/penalties/litigation associated with environmental releases. $1.3 Million for PHC Contamination Proving who is responsible for contaminated soil/groundwater has been one of the mainstays for Dragun since 1988 (working directly with lawyers). The recent case regarding a site in Toronto was not so much of a who-is-responsible mystery as much as a case of neglect. The site from...
Read MoreEnvironmental Remediation Frustrations
When groundwater or soil remediation efforts are not going as planned, the culprit is typically a poorly designed Conceptual Site Model (CSM) or the lack of a CSM. Over the past 25 plus years of conducting peer reviews, Dragun has seen poorly designed CSMs or the lack of a CSM again and again. In fact, this is such an important issue that, over the past year, we have been providing a series of Environmental Minutes “Eight Keys to Successful Environmental Remediation.” In...
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