Environmental Law Alert Blog

West Coast Environmental Law has been working with communities along the controversial proposed Enbridge Pipeline and oil tanker route  to make sure that their views are fully considered in any government decision. The Enbridge pipeline is intended to bring tar sands oil to the BC’s Pacific North Coast to be loaded onto tankers. The project’s environmental assessment will be conducted by a Joint Review Panel (a joint body pooling the environmental assessment responsibility of the...

As West Coast Environmental Law reported in a separate post, BC’s enforcement of environmental laws continues to drop.  And, as I noted in that post, in addition to general job in enforcement there is also reason to be concerned about the drop in convictions under environmental laws.  

Charges (which result in convictions) are usually reserved for more egregious violators.  They require more preparation time, involve the expense of going to...

Last week West Coast Environmental Law told you about our letter to Commissioner Bruce Cohen, who has been appointed to investigate why the Fraser River sockeye salmon runs have collapsed.  We were (and still are) concerned about the requirement in the Commission’s rules for standing that participants demonstrate that they have a “substantial and direct interest” in the Commission’s investigations.  West Coast feels that this requirement could be interpreted...

Dianne Saxe, an Ontario environmental lawyer, writes about the efforts of the municipality of Oakville to regulate air pollution and to block plans for a proposed power plant.  “Spurred by opposition to a new gas-fired electric power plant, the Town of Oakville has opened a new front in the long battle over the role of municipalities in controlling pollution.”

In essence Oakville wants to require large polluters not to just get provincial government approvals, but also municipal approvals....