CRUNCH TIME IS COMING FOR LANXESS & THE MECP

 

MECP does not stand for Ministry of Expanded Corporate Pollution but it really should . The MECP probably prefer The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. Boy talk about downgrading a Ministry by expanding their mandate while not expanding their budget enough to even be able to drag recalcitrant polluters in front of the courts to enforce the legislation that does exist.

2028 is the mandated date for the cleanup of the Elmira drinking water aquifers. Instead the company are talking about alternatives.  These alternatives include getting well E10 at Scotch Line (south of Elmira) to contribute water to the distribution system. Other implausible ideas include water barriers of clean water pumped into the aquifers between the company at the north end of town and the south wellfield (E7, E9) at the south end of town now surrounded by both commercial and industrial development. Only Elmira/Woolwich are dumb enough to pollute the south wellfield in 1989, shut it down then develop all around it and later decide to start it up again in 2028. 

Lanxess want somehow to get Elmira back onto Elmira drinking water. The Region of Waterloo have also reversed their position and now want Elmira off the pipeline that brings water from Waterloo and the IUS or Integrated Urban System.  The minor problem of course is that NDMA and chlorobenzene are still above drinking water standards in many parts of the drinking water aquifers. Also these chemicals have bonded to soils in the clay or silt aquitards between the aquifers and they are now back diffusing from the soils into the aquifers. 

The elephant in the room however may be the unmentioned and intentionally ignored other Uniroyal chemicals in our aquifers and aquitards and this includes DDT and dioxins despite the longstanding lies that they do not dissolve in groundwater. The other elephant in the room is Uniroyal's long insistence in talking about DNAPLS versus actually cleaning them up both on and OFF the Uniroyal property. These DNAPLS (chlorobenzenes, chlorophenols, TCE etc.) help mobilize DDT, dioxins and other low solubility chemicals and have transported them off-site just as erosion of soils has done so into the Canagagigue Creek for at least five miles downstream.

A company with a site history of maiming, killing and crippling both Vietnamese and Americans and that has proven grossly inadequate in their cleanup can not be trusted to remain in charge of the eventual health of the Elmira Aquifers. Knowing what I know about the non-cleanup to date I have no intention of drinking Elmira water again.

NEVER ENOUGH DIRTY TRICKS FOR CORPORATE POLLUTERS & TRICKSTERS

 

I came across a term this morning in a Record article about Israel and Gaza. Instead of co-opted a Palestinian group referred to another armed group as a tool of the Israeli military. Tools unfortunately do not always do the intended job and in incompetent hands can actually backfire. Various "tools" that Lanxess currently use would include Luis, Allan Deal, Hadley, Susan, Tiffany, Sandy and Nathan. There are many others . Lanxess's influence, both positive and negative, extends far and wide. They can for example get an ambitious citizen appointed to the National Advisory Panel of the Chemical Industry Association of Canada (CIAC). In the opposite direction they can put pressure on media outlets, perhaps newspapers in particular,  "suggesting" that they would prefer to read and hear less about a certain individual; much less to be exact.  

They can also advise municipal councils that appointing certain individuals to a volunteer environmental committee could backfire in that they the corporate body responsible for the environmental catastrophe won't attend if certain specific individuals are appointed that do not meet with their approval. Hence the naive among us might believe that certain respected citizens are appointed due to their merits when in fact it is the exact opposite. They are appointed precisely because they are malleable enough to bend when told to do so or else.

Immediate responses to critical media pieces are guaranteed. Look at today's Record. The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) have already responded to last Friday's condemnation by Luisa D'Amato with a puff piece response today. I fully expect that Lanxess will soon have something in both the Woolwich Observer and the K-W Record extolling the virtues of corporations on the leading edge of enhancing human adaptive techniques to chemically enhanced air, water and food.  Or some such other rot and nonsense.

Using municipal influence via legal (or not ?) corporate bribes for recreational improvements etc. to guarantee appointments to authority positions such as Chair of environmental committees.  Most knowledgeable people understand that any and all municipal committees will never be independent fully much less partially. They toe the company line or else they are gone! Having a Chair biased in favour of a serious polluter is always helpful to that polluter. An honest environmental committee such as CPAC from November 2010 to August 2015 terrified Uniroyal/Chemtura as they asked difficult questions and also provided very difficult comments and statements of fact contrary to long held Uniroyal/Chemtura ideology and propaganda.

So all in all friendly legislation, minimal fines, zero jail time etc. just isn't good enough for these swine. They want it all including positive public relations and if they have to lie, cheat, manipulate and deceive well that's O.K. it's all for a good cause. Similar to the justice system it's all about "just us".  

"TOO MANY BOARDS AND TRUSTEES ARE DISTRACTED BY MATTERS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, AND THIS MUST CHANGE"

 

Well that title above pretty much says it all. These words are those of our current Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra. I sure hope that mayor Sandy Shantz is enjoying all the criticism of her former employer and political launching pad, the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB). Hopefully if they get taken over by the province it might open some minds as to what kind of politician she really is. 

I am no sycophant of Doug Ford and his Conservative government here in Ontario. Their environmental policies are abhorrent to me. Their anti labour policies are also abhorrent to me. Now when it comes to the rotten state of our education I can only smile as they bash various Boards and Trustees. I too like so many other parents have suffered at the hands of that disgusting Board. I currently have a Letter To The Editor submitted to the K-W Record last Friday on this subject which although acknowledged as received by Jim Poling, Editor of the Record, has not yet seen the light of the day. Nor have any others over the last decade. I'm confident however that the rumour that Uniroyal Chemical/Chemtura/Lanxess exerting influence to muzzle me are just that, rumours. 

If not then perhaps I will just have to publish it here and ask the Record what's up. By the way that quote in the title is in today's K-W Record on the front page. Personally with the ongoing (three years now) distraction of Carolyn Burjowski and Mike Ramsay both initiated by the WRDSB; I am highly optimistic that the province are sending the WRDSB a not so subtle message. In case the Board aren't capable of understanding it then I will clarify the message for them in capitol letters as follows:

WRDSB STOP FOCUSING ON DEI (Diversity, Equity, Indigenous?) ISSUES AND GET BACK TO THE CORE ISSUES OF READING, WRITING AND ARITHMETIC !

The Board have nor behaved this way due to any surplus of morals or ethics but far more likely to distract from their ongoing core educational failures.  

JUST ONE MORE IN A LONG LIST OF PHONY OVERSIGHT/ REVIEW OR APPEAL BODIES

 

I am currently referring to the alleged Integrity Commissioners.  Other examples could be our courts and judicial system although many of these review bodies allegedly are to speed up the process as well as to get a third party, independent and unbiased opinion on different parties behaviours. Many are simply a joke. The former Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an example . It has been replaced by the Ontario Land tribunal (OLT) which is pretty much just as biased and bad as the OMB. Currently I am involved with the National NewsMedia Council which oversees complaints of bias and or inaccuracies in the print media. There is also the former Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) which was replaced by the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT). Funny how many of these review bodies end up changing their names as if that will shake of f clinging odours of deceit.

I read the 42 page report written by the Integrity Commissioner. concerning trustee Mike Ramsay.  I believe that the majority of the facts were not in dispute which was certainly interesting.  What I found most bizarre and weird was the Integrity Commissioners plain stating that they would not, after an examination and writing of the facts, make any recommendations. What the hell? So lets get this straight. A trustee who is part of the majority group of trustees for the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) filed a complaint to the Integrity Commissioner about another trustee's strong criticism of the decision of the majority of  trustees to stop a Delegation by a  long term teacher (Carolyn Burjowski) . Who do you think is paying the Integrity Commissioner? The WRDSB of course and they favour the majority decision of the trustees that stopping and disciplining a teacher who followed the WRDSB's own Delegation rules was just fine because she dared to politely and factually criticize a part of the WRDSB's  school library procedures.

The WRDSB just like some municipal councils etc. believe it's O.K. to use taxpayers money (earmarked for education)  to bolster and buttress  their favourite pet projects or favourite bizarre side interests via financing unnecessary legal actions against parents, teachers and stakeholders with legitimate educational concerns.  Some of these bodies have zero tolerance for even polite, respectful disagreement and will spend our money in court to the last nickel . They will also use and abuse tame review bodies to attempt to bolster, in the eyes of the public, their weak positions.  Shameful!

POSITIVES FROM THE K-W RECORD'S NOV. 15/25 ARTICLE TITLED "THE LONG CLEANUP OF ELMIRA'S WATER CONTAMINATION CRISIS"

 

 First and foremost the groundwater "cleanup" has NOT been achieved after 36 years.  That is worthy of a heartfelt thank you to all the dirty pigs and their followup deviousness and dishonesty. Therefore kudos to all the players involved including Uniroyal Chemical staff, CRA/GHD staff, Ont. Min. of Environment staff, and Woolwich and regional councillors who followed orders and did not step out of line. Particular thanks for their behaviour over the ensuing years to Ken Seiling, Hardy Wong, Barb Trebilcock, Jason Rice, Jeff Merriman, Dwighte Este, Steve Quigley, Allan Deal, Luis Almeida, Sandy Shantz, Bill Strauss, Mark Bauman, Susan Bryant, Sylvia Berg, Pat McLean, Nathan Cadeau, Tiffany Svensson and all the rest of them. Real kudos and admiration to Esther Thur, Susan Rupert, Richard Clausi, Ted Oldfield, Dr. Henry Regier, Vivienne Delaney, Dr. Dan, Sebastian, Ron C., Graham C., Sadi, Pat Potter, Dr. Richard Jackson,  etc. Apologies to both the good and the not so good left off of both lists. 

Secondly the "cleanup" of the Canagagigue Creek has not even been started. Sure lots of studies and reports, often fudged and often repeated. However no shovels or equipment in the ground removing grossly contaminated sediments and creekbank soils. Contaminated with PAHs, dioxins, DDT, DDE, DDD, mercury and PCBs and so much more. 

Thirdly just to be clear all three of these first three paragraphs are "positives" in that the Record article has clearly spelled out these failures . The third one is that Uniroyal Chemical's on-site and in ground chemical dumping has not been even close to cleaned up. Yes some of the buried pits and ponds have been cleaned out however most of that cleanout did not touch the soils and ground beneath. There wasn't even minimal clay barriers installed until twent-five years of dumping had already occurred. Those clay barriers then leaked (on the west side) at approximately 3,400 litres per day downwards into aquifers and aquitards below as per CH2 MHILL consultants to the Region.

THE WHYS & WHEREFORES PLUS THE STATUS OF MY COMPLAINT TO THE K-W RECORD & THE NATIONAL NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL

 

Well everybody are mostly being quite polite albeit pretty slow. To date I've seen one tiny correction that really wasn't even my direct complaint in the first place. That had to do with .009 millionths of a gram per litre of water. Also I've dropped two of my complaints including the one advising the reporter and the Record that 36 years of discussion around concentrations of contaminants have used the following units of measure namely parts per trillion (ppt), parts per billion (ppb), parts per million (ppm) as well as ng/l, ug/l and mg/l versus millionths of a gram per litre of water. The second complaint I've dropped is the one indicating that there are eleven on-site pumping wells. This complaint was based upon three on-site deep Municipal Aquifer pumping wells (PW3, PW4, PW5) in addition to eleven shallow (UA) pumping wells. Now in hindsight I recall that the polluter/company have been constantly changing the number of on-site pumping wells as in reducing the numbers such that both the shallow (UA) and the deeper (MU) wells may actually be down to eleven now in total.

Why is my formal complaint to both the Waterloo Region Record and the National NewsMedia Council important? Over the last 36 years the responsible polluting corporation instead of properly cleaning up Elmira, their own property and the Canagagigue Creek; the various owners of the site (Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess) have focused on changing the narrative. They have focused on solidifying support both within and without the community. They have lobbied three levels of governance and politicians into believing that the damage done by Uniroyal Chemical and still continuing really isn't that bad.  They have minimized and covered up the health and environmental damages that they have caused partially by buying allegedly scientific reports that suit their narrative not the truth. One local referred to this as "Adjusting the science according to your needs".

Our media have also fallen into this trap. Basically when the polluter is surrounded by fellow travellors and political friends at all levels it becomes difficult for the media not to slide into the narrative woven by the polluter. One of the most contemptible narratives is that one citizen (American no less) has singlehandedly fought a courageous battle against Uniroyal and successors. Nothing could be further from the truth. She has been "controlled opposition" almost from the beginning. She and her two sidekicks (Sylvia & Pat) have played the game along with Uniroyal and friends. She yells loudly about the Creek and then trades away major environmental concessions to the companies in order to advance her sole concern being the Creek.  These concessions are as relatively minor as lowered monitoring requirements and as major as falsely conceding the removal of DNAPLS (dense non aqueous phase liquids) from discussion and contention. The irony is that after 36 years nothing downstream all the way to the Grand River has been cleaned or remediated. If it ever happens and she has recently expressed doubt about that, it will be at most a token "hot spot" or two. 

I do praise the Record for the time, effort and space that they allocated for their November 15/25 article titled "The long cleanup of Elmira's water contamination crisis". That said after my 36 years of study, research, hard work and real opposition from all the players involved including backstabbing from Susan, do I not have the right to ask the media at least to get the story accurate?  

VARIOUS ERRORS, LIKELY ERRORS AND OR EVEN MINOR MISUNDERSTANDINGS IN RECENT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR REGARDING ELMIRA'S WATER CRISIS

 

A writer living in Listowel  stated that her husband hauled toxic sludge from Uniroyal Chemical's waste ponds in Elmira to the United States for disposal at the start of the cleanup. I am aware of most if not all of the alleged cleanups done but have no knowledge of toxic wastes being taken to the U.S.  I can not categorically claim that she is incorrect but am very curious about the location where they went.

A couple of letter writers jumped on the Susan Bryant bandwagon and praised her efforts.  It makes a good story but is not accurate. Susan Bryant and Sylvia Berg  made a private deal outside the purvue of the other APTE coordinators with Uniroyal Chemical. In exchange for APTE dropping their opposition to Conestoga Rovers pathetic DNAPL investigation around 1992-93 followed by the Ministry of Environment's letter of December 10, 1993 letter accepting this report, the two ladies received promises of future efforts to clean the Canagagigue Creek as well as promised lifetime invitations to all public meetings regarding cleanup plans etc.  In other words permanent seats at the table.  For this and the expected public accolades they sold out both their souls and their citizen colleagues. To date there is no cleanup whatsoever in the downstream Canagagigue Creek.

Dr. Richard Jackson wrote an excellent Letter To The Editor describing the need for and purpose of the warning signs along the Creek. He stated "However these contaminated sediments were subsequently flushed downstream and dispersed into the Grand River watershed." This statement very well may be accurate however without further statements it could be misconstrued as suggesting that the contaminated sediments are all gone. Sediments are constantly being deposited as well as being eroded in creeks especially during spring floods and other high flow times. The history of data from the Canagagigue Creek shows concentrations and locations to a certain extent changing over time. This is normal and most observers understand that the toxic chemicals such as DDT and dioxins (and others) continue to erode from both the former Uniroyal site as well as from downgradient and downstream areas impacted by Uniroyal's decades of operation and pollution migration.