Discharge Of Contaminants Into The Environment: "When In Doubt, Report"

Companies should carefully heed the Supreme Court of Canada's recent warning to promptly report the discharge of contaminants to the Ministry of the Environment ("MOE"), and may have to re-evaluate their current protocols and procedures to ensure that any incidents are monitored, and when necessary, reported to the appropriate regulatory bodies. Ontario's Environmental Protection Act ("the Act") requires that the MOE be immediately notified when a contaminant is discharged into the environment, if the discharge was out of the normal course of events, and if the discharge had, or was likely to have, an adverse effect. The Supreme Court has affirmed that proof of impairment is not required to trigger this duty to report, and more significantly, that the duty is triggered even if the effects of the discharge do not impair the quality of the environment. This decision may have application outside of Ontario, because other Canadian jurisdictions have similar statutory