Contaminated groundwater can be a significant environmental challenge. How contaminants move in the groundwater and how to address or remediate groundwater is a common topic of seminars, webinars, and articles (you can view our series of webinars on assessment and remediation of groundwater). While not an uncommon issue, few environmental professionals are fluent in their knowledge of groundwater. Personally, my environmental undergraduate degree barely touched on...
Read MoreWill This Make Hazardous Waste Reporting Easier in Ontario?
If you are among those who have expressed your displeasure about Ontario’s Hazardous Waste Information System, or HWIN, this may be good news. The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is proposing to change this with a new “digital reporting service.” Hazardous Waste Reporting in Ontario The MECP has issued (June 19, 2020) a discussion paper, Modernizing Hazardous Waste Reporting in Ontario. In this document, they state, “We have heard that the current...
Read MoreU.S. Pipelines Shut Down: Will This Impact Canada?
Recent decisions in the United States (U.S.) regarding transporting petroleum via pipelines have again opened the debate on pipelines and their potential environmental impact. These decisions are also a reminder that legal and regulatory decisions in either country can affect their neighbours. Enbridge Line 5 For years, “Line 5” (owned by Enbridge and runs under the Straits of Mackinac) has been targeted by environmental groups as posing too great a risk to the Great...
Read MoreFederal Environmental Enforcement Concerns and Recent Enforcement
In an article in early January 2020 by the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), they wrote, “As the New Year approaches there are numerous environmental issues that will continue to command the attention of litigators and legislators across Canada.” The article then lays out why it will be a busy year for environmental issues in Canada. In closing, they state, “For these and other reasons, 2020 is shaping up to be a busy (if not intriguing) year for...
Read MoreThe Environment, The Economy, Reporting Deadlines, and Delays
Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic is a challenge on many fronts, not the least of which are economic recovery and environmental protection. First, an important reminder on an upcoming deadline: the Environmental Emergency (E2) regulations. As we shared about a year ago, “In August 2019, the updated Environmental Emergency (E2 Regulations) will officially repeal and replace the existing Environmental Emergency Regulations.” We also said that the regulations affect about...
Read MoreBusinesses Start the Process of Recovery from COVID-19
Many people have commented on how quiet it was as we were in lockdown due to COVID-19. In some places, wildlife found once-busy urban environments now very appealing as traffic all but disappeared. The lack of cars, trucks, air traffic, and industrial activity did lend itself to peaceful evening walks and allowed us to, at least for the moment, forget about the tragic situation across the globe. Reopening the Economy We are now in the slow process of carefully and...
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