Comments on: Contaminated sites: which cleanup standards? http://envirolaw.com/numbers-brownfields/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=numbers-brownfields News and analysis (not advice) by a top Ontario environmental lawyer Fri, 18 May 2012 00:34:33 +0000 hourly 1 By: Dr. George Duncan http://envirolaw.com/numbers-brownfields/comment-page-1/#comment-1594 Dr. George Duncan Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:40:02 +0000 http://envirolaw.com/?p=3155#comment-1594 Confusion reigns! As consultants, we are having to explain to our clients the old versus the new Reg 153/04 and try to get them to decide which version best suits their purposes before we begin our site investigation but I am very uncomfortable with this since the issue is more of a legal one than an environmental one. Recent discussions with an MOE lawyer seems to indicate Reg 153/04 applies only to sites seeking a Record of Site Condition but not to other sites. However, since there is no other Ontario yardstick for estimating the condition of soils and waters, it looksto me like the consultant would be held civilly liable if he/she didn't apply the Reg to the results of the analyses. This leaves us telling the client, "There's no law says you must clean up this site simply because you exceed the Reg 153 limits, but clean it up anyway or you may not be able to buy/sell it and I may get sued. Am I way off base here or what? Confusion reigns! As consultants, we are having to explain to our clients the old versus the new Reg 153/04 and try to get them to decide which version best suits their purposes before we begin our site investigation but I am very uncomfortable with this since the issue is more of a legal one than an environmental one. Recent discussions with an MOE lawyer seems to indicate Reg 153/04 applies only to sites seeking a Record of Site Condition but not to other sites. However, since there is no other Ontario yardstick for estimating the condition of soils and waters, it looksto me like the consultant would be held civilly liable if he/she didn't apply the Reg to the results of the analyses. This leaves us telling the client, "There's no law says you must clean up this site simply because you exceed the Reg 153 limits, but clean it up anyway or you may not be able to buy/sell it and I may get sued. Am I way off base here or what?

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