Our Environmental Law Group advises clients on compliance with the full range of federal, provincial and local environmental regulations and programs. We also represent clients in environmental hearings and defend against prosecutions for infractions of relevant legislation. We frequently assist clients with meeting emission standards and obtaining permits, due diligence, officers' and directors' liabilities, and spills and spill reporting. Working closely with our corporate and banking groups, we advise clients on environmental liabilities and property investigations in the context of mergers and acquisitions and financings. We negotiate agreements with private parties and governmental authorities involving the transfer or allocation of environmental risks, contaminated site remediation, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

	Representative Transactions/Cases
			Defence: Defending a client accused of infractions arising from the export of materials for recycling, which are categorized as hazardous and fall under the Export and Import of Hazardous Waste Regulations enacted under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The actions are alleged to have occurred over a period of time in 2000 and 2001 and Environment Canada prosecutors have elected to charge the company with a separate charge for each day the infraction is alleged to have continued.
			Waste Management Company: Represented a consortium of lenders advancing credits of $100 million to a management team buying the Canadian operations of a large US-based waste management company. We participated in the environmental due diligence involving Phase I and Phase II environmental site investigations of over 20 landfill or waste transfer stations situated across the country. The acquisition terms negotiated on behalf of the lenders included exhaustive indemnities and post-closing environmental work to be performed for the lenders.
			Contaminated Site and Insolvency: Represented a court-appointed receiver of A.R. Clarke Limited, a leather manufacturing business with a large mothballed manufacturing facility in downtown Toronto. Although the real property was situated in a valuable location, the associated land and groundwater were significantly contaminated by spills of degreasing chemicals that had been used in the tannery operation for decades. We had to deal with orders the Ontario Ministry of the Environment had issued against the property before Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal. We also appeared before the bankruptcy court for certain authorizations and approvals. The highly contentious matter involving both the Ministry of the Environment and prospective purchasers was further complicated by a major fire that destroyed a significant part of the above ground structures during the course of the receivership.
			Acquisition of Explosives Business: Acted on behalf of the purchasers of a large explosives manufacturing business with facilities in both Canada and the U.S., which included major manufacturing facilities in Ontario and Alberta and storage and mixing facilities in a number of other provinces. The building block of many explosives is a nitrogen-based chemical and contamination of groundwater and surface water from the nitrogen chemicals is of particular concern in dealing with these products. We were responsible for environmental site investigations and due diligence on approximately 15 sites in both Canada and the US, and we negotiated appropriate representations and warranties, risk transfers, and indemnifications between the purchaser and the vendor.
			Mining and Mine Closure: Represented the owner of a mothballed precious metal refinery in Northern Ontario, purchased by a US-based metal refiner interested in refining certain precious metal slags and by-products that are becoming available from US industrial recycling processes. Negotiations included the purchaser, the vendor and Ontario’s Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, which was mandated to review and approve any changes for the Mine Closure Plan required under Ontario’s mine legislation for rehabilitation of active mine sites in Ontario.
			Acquisition of Construction and Quarry Business: Represented a party seeking to acquire a construction and quarry business. We undertook environmental due diligence and commission environmental site investigations on over 30 large quarry and aggregate manufacturing sites, and commissioned the Phase I and Phase II environmental site investigations. We also negotiated appropriate risk allocations and transfers concerning these properties. This transaction also involved environmental insurance.