John Robert Tidball

The appellants appealed a Director's Order requiring them to perform work and provide financial assurance regarding a foundry sand waste pile on their property.

Following negotiations, the parties reached a settlement agreement wherein the appellants would withdraw their appeal, the original order would be revoked, and a new order would be issued requiring the complete removal of the foundry sand by November 1, 2019.

The Environmental Review Tribunal found the settlement agreement consistent with the purpose of the Environmental Protection Act and in the public interest, accepted the withdrawal of the appeal, and dismissed the proceeding.

Following a pre-hearing conference, the Environmental Review Tribunal ordered the consolidation of two appeals related to an Environmental Penalty Order and a Director's Order Amendment concerning water quality and acid mine drainage at the Kearney Graphite Mine Site.

The Tribunal also granted party status to Algonquin Eco Watch and participant status to Magnetawan First Nation, POWR-MAG, and the Kearney Watershed Environmental Foundation, and scheduled a second pre-hearing conference to allow the parties to engage in settlement discussions.

The appellants appealed a Director's Order regarding the management of a foundry sand waste pile.

At a pre-hearing conference, the Tribunal granted presenter status to two neighbouring property owners who raised concerns about potential impacts on the local drinking water aquifer.

The Tribunal also scheduled a mediation session and a further pre-hearing conference at the request of the parties.

The appellant brought a motion to waive the requirements for giving notice to nearby property owners and holding a pre-hearing conference prior to the Tribunal considering a proposed settlement of its appeal regarding a waste disposal site.

The appellant and the Director argued that notice was unnecessary as the appeal was being withdrawn and the issues were regulatory.

The Tribunal dismissed the motion, finding it has jurisdiction to convene a pre-hearing conference to consider status requests before reviewing a settlement, and that waiving notice requirements was inappropriate given the public interest mandate of the environmental legislation.

The Regional Municipality of Niagara issued an order under s. 100.1(1) of the Environmental Protection Act against several persons to recover costs incurred for cleaning up a spill.

Several named persons appealed the order.

The Region subsequently advised the Tribunal that it intended to revoke the order against four of the appellants, as they did not have ownership or control of the pollutants.

The Tribunal found the proposed revocation to be consistent with the purpose of the Act and in the public interest, revoked the order against those four appellants, and dismissed their appeals.

The Director of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change issued an order regarding a spill of environmental contaminants at a site in Fort Erie.

Several parties appealed the order.

After the required remediation work was completed by some of the appellants, the Director proposed to revoke the order.

The Environmental Review Tribunal found the proposed revocation to be consistent with the purpose of the Environmental Protection Act and in the public interest.

The Tribunal revoked the order and dismissed the appeals.

The appellants appealed a Director's Order requiring the removal of waste ash from a property.

At a preliminary hearing, the appellants sought a stay of the order pending the resolution of the appeals.

The Director consented to a stay of most items in the order, as there was no evidence of potential harm to human health or the environment.

The Tribunal granted the stay in part and also granted participant status to the City of Toronto and the Ontario Waste Management Association for the purpose of a forthcoming motion to revoke the order against the Regional Municipality of Peel.

The Regional Municipality of Niagara issued an order under s. 100.1 of the Environmental Protection Act to recover clean-up costs related to a spill.

Several named persons appealed the order and filed a Notice of Allegation against other parties, including the Town of Fort Erie.

The Town of Fort Erie requested party status in the proceeding.

The Tribunal granted the Town party status, finding its interests may be directly and substantially affected by the outcome of the appeal.

The Tribunal also set a schedule for motions and the main hearing.

The Regional Municipality of Peel brought a motion to revoke a Director's Order regarding the removal of waste ash from a site, requesting the motion be heard prior to the main appeals.

The City of Toronto and the Ontario Waste Management Association sought participant status.

The Environmental Review Tribunal granted participant status to both entities and ordered that Peel's motion to revoke be heard prior to the hearing of the appeals, subject to a schedule for disclosure.

The Tribunal held a preliminary hearing by telephone conference call regarding appeals of a Director's Order related to a spill of environmental contaminants.

Several entities requested party status.

Finding that the entities were named in a Notice of Allegation and could be directly affected by the outcome of the appeal, the Tribunal granted party status to Amercoat Canada, Rubyco Ltd., and Danroh Inc. The preliminary hearing was adjourned to allow for the completion of work required under interim amendments to the Director's Order.

At a preliminary hearing regarding an appeal of a Director's Order related to an environmental spill, several individuals and entities sought party and participant status.

The Tribunal granted party status to several potential orderees and individuals named in the order, finding their interests could be directly and substantially affected.

The Regional Municipality of Niagara was granted participant status due to its genuine interest as an adjacent property owner.

The preliminary hearing was adjourned to allow ongoing remediation work to proceed.

The plaintiff municipality sought to recover environmental remediation costs following a residential furnace oil spill that migrated onto public lands and into a lake.

Several defendants, including an insurer, insurance adjuster, and environmental remediation contractor, brought summary judgment motions to dismiss statutory and negligence claims against them under the Environmental Protection Act.

The court held that none of the moving parties were “owners of the pollutant” or persons “having control of the pollutant” within the meaning of the statute and dismissed the statutory claims.

However, the court declined to summarily dismiss the negligence claims, finding that the potential duty of care owed by an insurer, adjuster, or remediation contractor to an adjoining landowner presented a novel question requiring a full Anns analysis at trial.

Amendments to the statement of claim were also permitted as they arose from the same factual matrix and did not introduce a new cause of action.