Environmental Litigation & Enforcement

Corporations, municipalities and individuals charged with environmental offences or named in government compliance and remediation orders regularly call upon the Blakes Environmental group to defend them. Combining the courtroom skills of our nationally recognized trial and appellate litigators with the comprehensive knowledge and expertise of our environmental regulatory lawyers, Blakes offers a multidisciplinary team poised to handle the most complex environmental litigation. With excellent paralegal support, cutting-edge document management technology and a project management and e-discovery team, we handle large, document-intensive cases efficiently and cost-effectively.

Clients benefit from our extensive experience litigating a wide range of claims, including those related to property remediation and decontamination, oil and gasoline spills, storage and transportation of hazardous materials, noise and odour nuisances, insurance coverage for environmental damage, and professional negligence concerning environmental and engineering consulting services. We also represent clients in a broad spectrum of other environmental and occupational health and safety matters.

Blakes has successfully handled significant environmental litigation involving all major environmental laws. We have represented clients with respect to major environmental catastrophes such as the contamination of the drinking water in Walkerton, Ontario, a gasoline spill that caused the evacuation of the city of Timmins and coal tar contamination in Ottawa. We also frequently appear on behalf of clients at regulatory and administrative hearings, advise on permitting, approvals, licences, assessments, audits, investigations and regulatory compliance, and represent clients in arbitrations and mediations.

Clients rely on us throughout their business life cycle for risk-avoidance strategies as well as representation when disputes arise. From fact-finding and risk evaluation through final resolution and enforcement, our lawyers assert our clients’ interests at trial and appellate levels, in court, at the negotiating table, and before tribunals and government agencies.

Representative Matters

• Represented a regional municipality in both prosecutions and civil litigation arising from a coal tar contaminated site.
• Acted for a national petroleum company with respect to charges and administrative penalties concerning the construction of pipelines and river crossings in Alberta.
• Defended an international tire manufacturing company with respect to industrial disease claims alleging asbestosis.
• Represented a national petroleum company, handling the defence and appeal of charges concerning a major gasoline spill and related property damage, business loss and pollution of a river.
• Advised a national manufacturer concerning litigation by a municipality over contamination of land in an industrial park leased by a predecessor company many years earlier.