ACTION ALERT: Hazardous Waste Transportation

Action Alert from the Canadian Environmental Law Association April 23 2012

The Ontario Ministry of Environment is proposing to exempt waste haulers transporting hazardous waste from the requirement to obtain a license before commencing their operation. This exemption will also apply to transboundary waste haulers.

The Ministry’s proposal would instead subject waste haulers to a regulation which will set out the requirements for transporting hazardous waste. This means that there will be no up-front detailed review by Ministry staff to determine whether waste haulers are properly equipped and qualified to handle the transportation of hazardous waste before they are allowed to operate in Ontario. 

For more information please contact:

Ramani Nadarajah, Counsel, Canadian Environmental Law Association, (416) 960-2284 ext. 217 ramani@cela.ca or Dr. Elaine McDonald, Senior Scientist, Ecojustice, (416) 368-7533 emacdonald@ecojustice.ca.

 

We ask that you please take a moment to write to Minister Jim Bradley expressing your concerns about the proposal. Letters may be sent to:

 

The Honourable Jim Bradley

Minister of the Environment

77 Wellesley Street West

11th Floor, Ferguson Block

Toronto ON

M7A 2T5

Email: minister.moe@ontario.ca

Telephone: (416) 314-6790

Fax: (416) 314-7337

 

A sample letter is provided below:

[ stick in date]

Dear Minister Bradley:

Re: Proposal to De-regulate the Transportation of Hazardous Waste

We are writing to you to express our serious concerns with the Ministry of Environment’s proposal to exempt waste haulers transporting hazardous waste from the requirement to obtain a license in the form of an Environmental Compliance Approval. This means that waste haulers will no longer have their operations subject to a rigorous up-front review by Ministry staff before they commence operations in Ontario.

Hazardous waste, by its very definition, poses substantial risk to the environment and human health and safety. Many of the substances and materials constituting the hazardous waste stream are classified as “toxic” under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and some are listed as human carcinogens by the International Cancer Research Institute.

Furthermore, the handling of hazardous waste in Ontario has been the subject of a significant number of prosecutions, involving serious violations resulting in substantial harm to the environment and human health and safety.

We believe the Ministry’s proposal will places Ontario’s environment and human health and safety at significantly greater risk. We strongly urge the Ministry not to proceed with this proposal. We, therefore, request that the transportation of hazardous waste be subject to strict controls and oversight by the Ontario government. 

Yours truly,

[include your name here]