A big win for trees and tree lovers

by Dianne Saxe on May 23, 2013

Warmest congratulations to Clay Ruby for his latest public interest victory: preventing the destruction of a shared mature maple tree by one of the owners. Here is the decision in Hartley vs Cunningham, and the press release on this landmark tree ruling. Look for our analysis in next month’s Lawyers Weekly.

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Cree in court battle over environmental assessment and waterpower

by Dianne Saxe on May 22, 2013

The Divisional Court is grappling with a complex battle between two possibly overlapping First Nations over whether a Northern Ontario hydropower project is being lawfully evaluated under the Environmental Assessment Act and an agreement with three First Nations: Cree Nation (MoCreebec Council) v. Ontario. [click to continue…]

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Modernization of Approvals a big step in the right direction

May 21, 2013

The Ministry of the Environment’s Modernization of Approvals process is starting to make a real difference: kudos to Marcia Wallace, Doris Dumais and the others involved. It still takes far too long to get many kinds of Environmental Compliance Approvals (often well over a year), but the backlog is decreasing, and some upcoming changes should [...]

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Northstar former directors case continuing before Tribunal

May 16, 2013

The Ministry of the Environment’s attempt to impose unlimited personal liability on the directors of a parent company,  apparently because they were directors when historic contamination was discovered and/or being cleaned up on and near the land of a subsidiary, continues in front of the Environmental Review Tribunal. The Ministry has stated, in writing, that none [...]

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Will Environmental Tribunal enforce public trust in water?

May 14, 2013

Ecojustice has intervened in an appeal before Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal, hoping that they will enforce a public trust in water resources.

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Innocent owner Kawartha Lakes loses at Court of Appeal

May 13, 2013

The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of the Environmental Review Tribunal, refusing to allow an innocent landowner, City of Kawartha Lakes, to lead evidence about the actual polluters. Everyone agreed that the City was completely innocent of the fuel spill, which flowed onto municipal property through no fault of their own. But [...]

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$17,500 penalty for importing hazardous batteries without permit

May 10, 2013

Toxco Waste Management Ltd., of Trail, B.C., was ordered to pay $17,500 to the Environmental Damages Fund (EDF) by the Provincial Court of British Columbia after pleading guilty to importing waste lithium batteries exceeding the limit set out in its import permit. This action contravened the Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations (EIHWHRMR) of [...]

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Some Alberta oil sands monitoring data now public

May 8, 2013

Access to some federal and provincial environmental monitoring data on air, water, land and biodiversity in the oil sands is now available through an online data portal (www.JointOilSandsMonitoring.ca). The portal is a result of the Joint Canada–Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring announced in February 2012.

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Chevron Ecuador case- no enforcement in Canada

May 7, 2013

The $18 billion award given in Ecuador against Chevron for environmental damage won’t be enforced by seizing Chevron Canada, according to Justice David Brown.

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Wainfleet’s anti-wind turbine by-law invalid

May 6, 2013

In Wainfleet Wind Energy Inc. v. Township of Wainfleet (2013 ONSC 2194), Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice found the Township’s anti-wind by-law invalid for vagueness and uncertainty.     

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Easy useful things to support public transit, now

May 3, 2013

At this week’s meeting of the Eco Babes, a group of women in the sustainability professions agreed to work together to build support for public transit in the Greater Toronto Area. If you’d like to help, read on.

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Kawartha Lakes appeal heard by Court of Appeal

May 2, 2013

The City of Kawartha Lakes has appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal from a Ministry of the Environment Order, which imposed cleanup liability on the City for contamination it did not cause. The City argues that the MOE should have imposed those cleanup costs on the polluters, meaning either those who caused the spill, or [...]

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Coordinating international laws on hazardous materials and waste

May 2, 2013

Three different international treaties regulate international aspects of of hazardous materials and wastes. This week, staff and delegates working on the three treaties are meeting together to coordinate their efforts.

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Did Conservatives mislead country on environmental assessment “delays”?

May 1, 2013

Canada’s environmental review process for projects such as oil and gas pipelines did not have backlogs or other unreasonable delays that would justify the timelines imposed by the federal government last year, according to a study in the respected Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

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Landfill gas electricity may be eligible for permit by rule in Ontario

April 30, 2013

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is seeking public comment on a proposed regulation to allow landfill gas power generating facilities to register in the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (EASR).  

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