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Confronting Chronic Pollution: A Socio-Legal Analysis Of Risk And Precaution, Dayna Nadine Scott
Confronting Chronic Pollution: A Socio-Legal Analysis Of Risk And Precaution, Dayna Nadine Scott
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The central aim of this article is to demonstrate a socio-legal approach to risk and precaution using the example of chronic pollution. Drawing on ongoing empirical work with the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, which is tucked into Sarnia's "Chemical Valley," a secondary aim is to influence and shape how we understand the problem and confront the risks of chronic pollution. This article forwards the argument that the prevailing regulatory approach is incapable of capturing the essence of contemporary pollution harms, because those harms are increasingly linked to continuous, routine, low-dose exposures to contaminants that are within legally sanctioned limits. Community residents …
Taking Uncertainty Seriously: From Permissive Regulation To Preventative Design In Environmental Decision Making, R. Michael M'Gonigle, T. Lynne Jamieson, Murdoch K. Mcallister, Randall M. Peterman
Taking Uncertainty Seriously: From Permissive Regulation To Preventative Design In Environmental Decision Making, R. Michael M'Gonigle, T. Lynne Jamieson, Murdoch K. Mcallister, Randall M. Peterman
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This paper contrasts two paradigms of environmental regulatory decision making, "permissive regulation" and "preventative design," with respect to their treatment of scientific and legal uncertainty and the allocation of legal standards and burdens of proof. "Permissive regulation," which is the predominant approach in Canada, suffers two types of statistical errors. A type I error occurs when, for example, a pollution control device is unjustly imposed on an industry. A type II error occurs when no action is taken to control an industry when, in fact, damage is taking place. Concern to prevent type I errors often leads to type II …