Understanding the vapour intrusion (VI) pathway and exposure is still a relatively “young issue” in the environmental sciences. Not only is it new-ish, it is also loaded with potential pitfalls, liability, and controversy. One of the reasons that VI receives so much attention is because, unlike dermal exposure, for example, chemicals typically enter the bloodstream more easily through inhalation. Furthermore, the chemicals that are associated with VI (TCE, benzene) are...
Read MoreEnvironmental Violations and Fines in Ontario
While we haven’t gathered long-term data or plotted any trends as it relates to environmental enforcement in the Province of Ontario, there seems to be an uptick in enforcement news. The fines are not like we saw earlier this year following an explosion or at the seven-figure level that my colleagues in our US office have seen (see our July 13th blog for our US office); however, any environmental enforcement is “bad news” and can create some public relation challenges....
Read MoreOntario GHG Program: Potential Resources for Regulated Community
In our blogs, GHG Cap and Trade: Details Continue to Emerge and Despite Calls for Change – GHG Cap and Trade is Here, we provided some of the details about who is regulated by the approaching (Ontario) Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade Program. We wanted to provide some additional resources for small and medium size companies who may be hustling to assess the applicability and may be looking for resources. The information below is from the SMART Green funding program. Thanks to...
Read MoreAir Emission Standards: A New “First” in Canada
There is an undeniable environmental regulatory trend in Canada … that trend is an increased focus on air-quality issues. In May of this year, Ontario announced the implementation of the greenhouse gas Cap and Trade Program. This regulation has many companies considering whether they will be regulated beginning in January 2017 and if they need to register for cap and trade by November of this year. You may recall that it was about a year ago when Ontario’s Ministry of...
Read MoreEnvironmental Site Assessment in Ontario: Liability Protection is Still a Question
I was recently reading an article, “Contaminated Site Update: Rough And Ready Allocation Of Liability” (Nicholas R. Hughes, McCarthy Tétrault, LLP), that discussed innocent-purchaser exemption under British Columbia’s (BC) Environmental Management Act (EMA). The article outlines the necessary actions a purchaser must take to qualify for the innocent-purchaser exemption, including conducting “all appropriate inquires.” The language in the EMA sounds very familiar. In many...
Read MoreGHG Cap and Trade: Details Continue to Emerge
With the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Cap and Trade plan now a reality in Ontario, we are beginning to learn about some of the details. The recently released “Climate Change Action Plan” includes eight specific “action areas” that clearly indicate GHG Cap and Trade will affect virtually everyone in Ontario. The action areas are: Transportation Buildings and homes Land-use planning Industry and business Collaboration with Indigenous communities Research and development Government...
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