2C – Dealing with Environmental Emergencies and Spills
April 27 – Course Agenda
Course Description
Environmental emergencies can result in a nightmare scenario for the unwary manager who must now consider risks associated with climate change in addition to dealing with more common spills, leaks and discharges that can prompt unwanted ministry investigations; fines and penalties; and damage community relations.
Attend this course to be sure of your responsibilities; implement measures to increase resiliency; avoid liability; and encourage proactive best practices.
Course Chair
Janet Bobechko, Partner, Certified Specialist in Environmental Law, WeirFoulds LLP
Speakers
- Dr. Janya Kelly, Senior Climate Change Specialist, WSP Golder
- Valerie Bowering, Manager, Spills Action Centre, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (To be confirmed)
- Rob Read, Senior Program Officer, Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Kevin Wallace, Managing Director, Spartan Response Inc.
- Patricia Chehade, Associate, WeirFoulds LLP
- Thomas Tenkate, Associate Professor, School of Occupational & Public Health, Ryerson University
- Zackery Hodgen, Vice President, Business Development, FireRein
- Carl Spensieri, Vice President, Environment, Berkely Canada
April 27 – Course begins 9 AM
Natural disasters risk assessment: Modelling climate change-related risks and emergencies for industries and municipalities
- Background primer on understanding climate change and climate change terminology
- How to develop climate projections to support climate risk assessments
- Discussion of climate risks likely to have an impact on municipalities and industrial facilities
- Methods for doing climate risk evaluation and who should be involved
- Incorporating climate risk into existing risk management practices
Speaker: Dr. Janya Kelly, Senior Climate Change Specialist, WSP Golder
Reporting to the Spills Action Centre (SAC) and other agencies
- What SAC does and where it fits in with other organizations
Speaker: Valerie Bowering, Manager, Spills Action Centre, MECP
Complying with the new federal Environmental Emergencies (E2) Regulations
- Environmental Emergency (E2) Regulations and their intent
- Requirements and reporting under the current E2 Regulations
- New E2 Regulations, timing, additional substances, key changes, and reporting system
Speaker: Rob Read, Senior Program Officer, Environment and Climate Change Canada
Emergency spill response in practice
- In house pre-planning and preparation to minimize the impacts of a chemical spill.
- Effectively utilizing external spill response contractors (planning and execution).
- Spill response contractor’s training and organizational structure.
- How a spill response contractor effectively responds.
- Spill response examples and lessons learned.
Speaker: Kevin Wallace, Managing Director, Spartan Response Inc.
Reporting spills, leaks and discharges: Compliance with regulatory requirements and cautionary tales
Brief overview of environmental emergency and spills related provisions under Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act and Fisheries Act.
- Spills, leaks and discharges (odours; gas; water; noise and air (dust); smoke; explosion and fuel spill; chemical spill; acid mist; oil)
- What must be reported, when and to whom
- Inspections and investigations
- Cases resulting from spills and failure to report
- Trends in enforcement
Speakers: Patricia Chehade and Janet Bobechko, WeirFoulds LLP
Tools and approaches for screening-level hazard and risk assessment of chemicals
- Chemical safety in workplaces; chemical safety assessment
- Background to CHAP Tools project
- Hazard banding/Occupational exposure banding
- Chemical hazard/risk assessment tools
- Evaluation of current tools
- CHAP-Risk tool
- Tool development; evaluation; using the tool
Speaker: Thomas Tenkate, Associate Professor, School of Occupational & Public Health, Ryerson University
Case study: Industrial application of non-toxic fire suppressant
Firefighting foam can have a long lasting toxic impact on the environment when deployed in an emergency. New product Eco-Gel™ is plant based non-toxic replacement to firefighting foam. Eco-Gel™ is effective for Class A and B fires.
- Case study: Eco-Gel is being used by an industrial user in the waste and recycling industry and by a municipal fire department in Ontario.
Speaker: Zackery Hodgen, Vice President, Business Development, FireRein
Environmental insurance solutions: Environmental emergencies, spills, leaks and discharges
- Overview of cover available via commercial general liability and environmental liability insurance policies
- Spill response capabilities
- Emergency or crisis management cover
- Risk control (emergency event modelling)
- New environmental emergencies stemming from climate change
Speaker: Carl Spensieri, Vice President, Environment, Berkely Canada
Question and answer period
Course ends 4:30 PM
EVENT SCHEDULE
8 AM: Registration opens
9 AM: Courses begin
12 PM: Lunch
5 PM: Courses finish