Dianne Saxe heads her own environmental law and mediation boutique. No big-firm overhead, just personal, practical, expert advice and representation. Clients successfully manage environmental risks, resolve disputes, achieve regulatory compliance, avoid (and win) prosecutions, and improve long-term competitiveness.

Relied upon by businesses, corporate counsel and general practitioners. In constant demand as a speaker by lawyers and businesses in Canada and abroad. Service in English and French.

Doctor of Jurisprudence, Osgoode Hall Law School, 1991. Called to the Bar of Ontario, 1976. LL.B., Osgoode Hall Law School, 1974. University of Toronto, 1969 to 1971. Certified mediator. Certified environmental law specialist.

A lawyers' lawyer. 20 years' practical experience, including 14 years with the Ontario government, especially as senior prosecutor, Ministry of the Environment. Regularly retained by governments to teach their officers environmental law. Named as one of the world's top 400 environmental lawyers by International Corporate Law.

Drafted parts of the Environmental Protection Act and Ontario Water Resources Act. Author of numerous articles, several book chapters, a widely read column and five texts:
Member of the Environmental Specialist Certification Committee, Law Society of Upper Canada. Delegate to the Earth Summit. Environmental Chair, Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Ontario. Member of the Canadian Bar Association, Environmental Law Section National Executive

Environmental Dispute Resolution, a chapter of CCH's looseleaf service, Alternative Dispute Resolution Manual, 1995.

Buyer's Guide to Contaminated Land, Emond Montgomery, Toronto, 1994. (This book has been publicly praised by the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Environmental Standards, environmental consultants, and the vice president of a major real estate firm. The MOEE has used it in training their officers.)

Personal Liability of Officers and Directors, Chapter 12 of Environmental Law and Business in Canada, G. Thompson et al. ed., Canada Law Book, Aurora, 1993.

Environmental Protection Legislation - Guidance and Recommendations for Boardroom Practice, Institute of Corporate Directors, Toronto, 1991.

Ontario Environmental Protection Act, Annotated, Canada Law Book, Aurora, 1990. (This is a three volume loose-leaf service, updated four times a year, and is the standard text in the field.)

Copies of these books are available and can be ordered by fax:at (416) 962- 8817 or by email at dsaxe@envirolaw.com

We will get in touch with you to make arrangements.

Saxe FaxLetter

This Issue:Lender Liability

Ontario's Environmental Appeal Board has, for the first time, ruled on the liability of an innocent lender.

The facts are depressing, if not surprising. The victim, a farmer named Karge, committed the sin of selling his farm to a young couple and taking a second mortgage back. The purchasers didn't pay the mortgage, but they did devastate the farm. They damaged the house, cut down the woodlot, sold off buildings, and illegally brought in mounds of old tires. A neighbour alerted the MOEE when there were 15,000 tires. The purchasers brought in 20,000 more tires while the MOEE visited and wrote letters.

The MOEE then allowed the purchaser to bury the tires on the farm, without notice to the mortgagee and over the neighbours' objections. This increased the cost of removing the tires from $30,000 to more than $140,000, more than the total value of the farm. Shortly thereafter, the purchaser disappeared. To protect what was left of the farm, the farmer incorporated a company to buy certain rights from the first mortgage. Neither he nor the company formally took possession of the farm, but he did (to keep the house insured) put tenants on the property, at a net loss.

The MOEE prosecuted the purchaser; a large fine was imposed, but not collected. The MOEE then ordered the farmer to dig up and dispose of the tires. He appealed.

The Board agreed that the farmer had "charge and control" of the farm, because he had selected tenants, paid expenses and collected rent. However, he was innocent, especially in contrast to the MOEE. The EAB therefore made a tentative ruling that the farmer should not be further victimised. He does have to pay for removal of the tires from the site, but only out of any net profits he may make from the land, after recovering his mortgage. He does not have to pay to dig the tires up and clean them.

The MOEE is still trying to persuade the EAB to change this ruling.

and...yes, Superfund binds Canadians

The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld USA v. Ivey, the first case to hold Canadians liable under the US Superfund (CERCLA). More precisely, the Court ruled that American judgments against Canadians under Superfund can be enforced in Canada. Ivey had operated a US hazardous waste disposal site, and left behind massive contamination.