Tarsands lawsuit lights fire under government
Thanks to the efforts of an Alberta citizen and his Ecojustice lawyers, the oil company responsible for the deaths of hundreds of ducks in a huge tailings pond last spring might have to pay close to a million dollars in fines.
While the long-awaited charges are fantastic news, they come only after months of delay and the launch of our own lawsuit.
In January, our new Alberta lawyers Barry Robinson and Karin Buss launched a private prosecution of Syncrude Canada to ensure that the company would be held responsible after the ducks mistook its massive toxic tailings pond for an actual lake.
“We decided if the government won’t step up and enforce its own laws, we
will,” said Robinson.
Our lawsuit achieved its objective – having lit a fire under the federal and Alberta governments, less than a month after our action, they followed suit and formally charged Syncrude with fines that could total $800,000.
Evidently tarsands companies aren’t above the law after all. Sometimes it just takes a serious nudge from a concerned citizen and some good lawyers.
What are your thoughts?
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Tar Sands Lawsuit
The sad part is that the AB and Fed. gov't wouldn't get off their asses to do something until they were prodded.
Thanks again for your efforts.
Doug Engh