According to the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario’s (ECO) website, the commissioner is an independent “environmental watchdog” appointed by an all-party committee.
The ECO’s lengthy report includes 8 Chapters. The report covers everything from phosphorus runoff concerns to Environmental Bill of Rights, Threatened Species, and Pollution in Indigenous Communities. There is an associated webinar on Thursday, November 23, 2017, from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Eastern Time).
ECO’s First Nation’s Concerns
The focus on Indigenous Communities, specifically, the Aamjiwnaang community in Sarnia, Ontario, was of particular interest to our office (Chapter 3) Environmental Injustice: Pollution and Indigenous Communities).
Report Cover to Good Choices, Bad Choices (Credit: Environmental Commissioner of Ontario)
Dragun has worked with the Aamjiwnaang Community for several years. Last month, my colleague, Allan Clifford Lawton was part of a panel discussion at the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA). This panel addressed some of the issues that are discussed in the report. Also, see “Duty to Consult” blog by Clifford from this past August.
In discussing the October 24th report in a videoconference, Ms. Sax points to concerns about air quality with respect to benzene concentrations and sulfur dioxide in Sarnia. She also said that the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) standards for sulfur dioxide were established in 1974.
Some of the points relative to the Aamjiwnaag Community in the Environmental Commissioner’s report include:
“About 40% of Canada’s chemical industry is located around Aamjiwnaang…”
“… Aamjiwnaang is among the most polluted places in Ontario because of the large number of heavy industries located so close to the residential community.”
“On some of the community boundary roads, homes line the Aamjiwnaang side of the street, while refineries sit on the other; one facility is less than a kilometre from the daycare centre.”
“There is strong evidence that pollution is causing people in Aamjiwnaang adverse health effects which neither the federal nor provincial government have properly investigated.”
As pointed out in the report, there are many environmental issues that need to be addressed in the Aamjiwnaang community. Our focus has been evaluating and presenting to the Aamjiwnaang community representatives the environmental/scientific issues associated with active investigations, remediation, and testing. Our experience for the past four years has been one of assisting the Aamjiwnaang community attain cooperative consultation with the MOECC and the industry representatives.
ECO’s Recommendations to MOECC
While the ECO does not create legislation, the findings and guidance in their reports can influence future legislation. To that end, it may be helpful for the regulated community to review the “Comments” section of the report that includes ECO recommendations and MOECC (and other Ministry) comments.
Environmental Help
If you have questions regarding our role in advising Aamjiwnaang, please contact Allan Clifford Lawton. If you have questions about other environmental issues including permitting, planning, soil and groundwater assessment, remediation, expert environmental services, etc., you can contact me. You can reach Clifford or me in our Windsor office at 519-979-7300.