Author: admin

The following are excerpts from the Environmental Protection Act

1.    

prescribe that, where discharged to the environment,
(a)    endangers the health, safety or welfare of persons,
(b)    interferes or is likely to interfere with normal enjoyment of life or property,
(c)    endangers the health of animal life, or
(d)    causes or is likely to cause damage to plant life or to property;

“Discharge” includes, but not in order to limit the significance, any pumping, pouring, throwing, dumping, emitting, burning,

spraying, spreading, leaking, spilling, or escaping;

“Environment” means the elements of the Earth and contains (a)    air, land and water,
(b)    all layers of the atmosphere,
(c)    all organic and inorganic matter and living organisms, and
(d)    the interacting natural systems that include components referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c).

“Inspector” means a person appointed under subsection 3(2) and includes the Chief Environmental Protection Officer.

2.2    The Minister may
(a)    establish, operate and maintain stations to track the quality of the environment in the Territories;
(b)    conduct research studies, conferences and training programs relating to contaminants and to the
preservation, protection or improvement of the environment;
(c)    develop, co-ordinate and administer policies, criteria, guidelines and codes of practice about the

preservation, protection or improvement of the environment;
(d)    collect, publish and distribute information relating to contaminants and to the preservation, protection or

enhancement of the environment:

3.     (1) The Minister shall appoint a Chief Environmental Protection Officer who will administer and enforce this Act and

the regulations.

(2)    The Chief Environmental Protection Officer may appoint inspectors and shall specify in the appointment the forces

that might be exercised and the duties that could be performed by the inspector under this Act and regulations. (1) Subject to subsection (3), no person shall discharge or allow the discharge of a contaminant to the

atmosphere.

(3)    Subsection (1) doesn’t apply where the person who discharged the contaminant or permitted the discharge of the

contaminant establishes that
(a)    the discharge is authorized by this Act or the regulations or by an order issued under this Act or the regulations;
(b)    that the contaminant was used solely for domestic purposes and was discharged from within a dwelling house;
(c)    that the contaminant was discharged from the exhaust system of a vehicle;

(d)    the discharge of the contaminant resulted from the burning of leaves, foliage, wood, crops or stubble for domestic or

agricultural purposes;
(e)    the discharge of the contaminant resulted from burning for land clearing or land grading;
(f)    the discharge of the contaminant resulted from a fire set by a public official for habitat management of silviculture

functions;
(g)    that the contaminant was discharged for the purposes of combating a forest fire;
(h)    that the contaminant is a soil particle or grit discharged in the course of agriculture or horticulture; or
(I)    that the contaminant is a pesticide classified and labelled as “national ” under the Pest Control Products Regulations

(Canada).

(4)    The exceptions set out in subsection (3) don’t apply where a person discharges a contaminant that the inspector has

reasonable grounds to believe isn’t usually connected with a discharge from the excepted activity.

5.1.     Where a discharge of a contaminant into the environment in contravention of the Act or the  regulations or the

provisions of a permit or permit issued under this Act or the regulations happens or a reasonable likelihood of such a

discharge exists, each person causing or contributing to the discharge or raising the likelihood of such a discharge, and

the owner or the person in charge, management or control of the contaminant before its discharge or likely discharge, will

immediately:
(a)    subject to any regulations, report the discharge or likely discharge to the person or office designated by the

regulations;
(b)    take all reasonable measures consistent with public safety to prevent the discharge, fix any damage
caused by the discharge and prevent or eliminate any danger to life, health, property or the environment that results or may

be reasonably anticipated to result from the discharge or likely discharge; and
(c)    make a reasonable effort to notify every member of the public who might be adversely affected by the discharge or

likely discharge.

6.     (1)  Where an inspector believes on reasonable grounds that a discharge of a contaminant in contravention of the Act

or the regulations or a provision of a permit or license issued under this Act or the regulations has occurred or is

happening, the inspector may issue an order requiring any person causing or contributing to the discharge or the proprietor or the

person in charge, management or control of the contaminant to stop the discharge from the date named in the order.

7.     (1)  Notwithstanding section 6, where a person discharges or permits the discharge of a contaminant to the

environment, an inspector may order that person to repair or remedy any injury or damage to the environment that results from

the discharge.

(2) Where a person fails or neglects to repair or remedy any injury or damage to the environment in accordance with an arrangement

made under subsection (1) or where immediate remedial steps are required to safeguard the environment, the Chief

Environmental Protection Officer may cause to be completed the steps he or she believes necessary to fix or

remedy an accident or damage to the environment that results from any discharge.

APPENDIX 2 — MODIFIED BURN BARREL DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS

A modified burn barrel is typically constructed from a 45 gallon metal fuel or oil drum. The modifications result in larger

heat creation and retention, better mixing of the waste with incoming air and longer holding time inside the barrel.

Together, these modifications result in more complete combustion of the solid waste than does open burning on the ground or

in a pit.