WERE THEY LYING TO US THEN ABOUT THE INTERACTION BETWEEN ON AND OFF-SITE PUMPING RATES OR ARE THEY LYING NOW?

 

For decades the on-site pumping rates at PW4 and PW5 (originally PW1, PW3 and PW4) were set at 4.9 litres per second while the total off-site pumping was around 53 litres per second. We were advised that increases in off-site pumping required increases in on-site pumping  to prevent the off-site pumping from dragging contaminated groundwater off the Uniroyal/Crompton site and then further contaminating Elmira's municipal aquifers.

Similarly we were advised that decreases in off-site pumping could lessen the requirement of 4.9 litres per second needed to maintain hydraulic containment on site or in other words to prevent contaminated groundwater being pulled off-site by the many pumping wells in the Elmira Municipal Aquifers. 

This is but one of the reasons that Mayor Shantz, Chemtura/Lanxess and the Ministry of Environment cheerfully cleaned house (CPAC) in September 2015. They did not want continuity nor consistency. They had made promises and commitments that they were breaking and knew that they would continue to break. It is amazing how blatant professional liars will manipulate and lie even more to avoid getting caught red handed  in their initial lies when they want to change course. It's even so much easier not to have to explain these 180 degree changes in procedures at all.

The February 2025 Progress Report shows a total on-site pumping of 2.4 litres per second less than half of what has been required for decades. Meanwhile the total off-site pumping is 57.4 litres per second. Perhaps for one month this would not be a crisis but when it's been going on for the last few years it is. I believe that all guilty parties have thrown in the towel and are intentionally simply going through the "cleanup" motions. In fact they are effectively speeding up the "cleanup" only of the former Uniroyal site by assisting contaminated groundwater to migrate off-site.

To answer the question in the title above I would suggest that they were lying when it suited them and have never stopped.

WAS I TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT FRANK ROVERS AND DNAPLS ON THE UNIROYAL SITE?

 

Frank Rovers was one of if not the principal founder of engineering consulting firm Conestoga Rovers & Associates. He passed on several years ago. The company made their name with their hydraulic containment of the Love Canal in New York state. Interestingly decades later after there were some citizens who returned to the abandoned residential site, further ongoing issues arose with migrating sludges and contaminants. Back in the 1970s local resident Lois Gibbs led the charge to have the site cleaned up. Basically the Love Canal was exactly what it was named. It was a failed attempt (by a Mr. Love) to build a Canal whose original purpose was to bypass Niagara Falls apparently. The project was abandoned with a big hole left in the ground which unfortunately was filled with toxic chemicals from nearby Hooker Chemicals. Then of course it was covered with earth and local developers thought that it would be a dandy (and cheap) source of land for a new residential subdivision. Oh the pride, hubris and stupidity of people looking to get rich quick while others took the health risks. 

Adults and children in the new subdivision were plagued with multiple symptoms, rashes and illnesses. Then it was revealed as to what was oozing into basements and near surface sheds, garages and homes. Hooker chemicals produced various chlorinated solvents for commercial sale. To the best of my knowledge this included chlorophenols which they sold to Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira for use in herbicides and pesticides such as 2,4-D,   2,4,5-T ,  brushbane and eventually Agent Orange for use both in Vietnam and in Ontario. 

Way back in the late 1990s Susan Bryant informed me during a private DNAPL (Dense Non Aqueous Phase Liquid) conversation with her that Frank Rovers had appeared at a UPAC (Uniroyal Public Advisory Committee) public meeting that I did not attend due to work commitments. For whatever reason Frank was very blunt and stated that yes the Uniroyal Chemical site to his knowledge was filled with sub-surface DNAPLS whether free phase or residual. I was shocked when Susan told me this. Both Uniroyal and the Ontario Ministry of Environment would have been in attendance. I believed Susan unequivocally at the time.

I can not imagine any reason why Frank Rovers (CRA) would say such a thing if it was not true. Susan said that it was said in the spirit of "Well there's just too much and it's everywhere so really there's no chance to search it all out and remove it.". I do know that at one time that was the attitude regarding DNAPLS in that they should be left alone for fear of further increasing their sub-surface migration if ill advised attempts to remove them took place. That said Drs. John Cherry and Beth Parker in January 2007 at the U. of Waterloo explained to me, Wilf Ruland, Pat McLean and Susan that that position had been reversed and that all possible attempts to remove DNAPLS were the way to go when remediating a site.  Susan, Wilf and Pat refused to take this information back to CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) for open discussion although private conversations may have taken place.

The DNAPLS remain to slowly dissolve and migrate over decades and or centuries. 

P.S. Jeff Merriman (Uniroyal & Chemtura) nearly had a bird one time I suggested that dioxins were DNAPL chemicals. 2,3,7,8 Tetra Chloro Dibenzo-p-Dioxin sure seems to me to be a classic DNAPL chemical. 

OH BOY HAS LUISA D'AMATO (K-W Record) GIVEN IT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE WRDSB AGAIN!

 

You gotta love it when those self-serving, self-entitled sh*heads get called out publicly. When are they going to learn that the more they try to insulate themselves from criticism the more that comes their way?  The answer appears to be never. They have absolute confidence that the Board and all their lawyers will protect them. Well let's see if that works out for Scot Piatkowski the former Board Chair who improperly shut down Caroline Burjowski's Delegation to the Waterloo Region & District School Board over two (3?) years ago. Without referring to that case, Ms. D'Amato slow roasted the Trustees' unfortunate penchant for non-transparency and secrecy. This of course includes not allowing non believers (in the WRDSB) to speak freely to them. 

Once again it appears that the good guys on the Trustees consist of Cindy Watson, Mike Ramsay and Bill Cody. They have long all tried to promote more openness and ability of parents, citizens and stakeholders to speak to the Trustees without facing restrictive and ridiculous legal threats and or threats of being cut off if they don't stay within the Trustees' narrow guidelines as to what is and isn't "appropriate" or O.K. Apparently it's just fine for Trustees and the WRDSB to behave poorly but heaven forbid any stakeholders should criticize them for it.

Ms. D'Amato has long advocated for a more open, honest and transparent WRDSB as have the three Trustees mentioned.  While I don't expect our current provincial government to do their job education wise, nevertheless they do have the legal right to step in when things get too ridiculous. Wouldn't that be just incredible if it was the Doug Ford government that said enough of this crap  and stepped in and took over from the WRDSB. I don't know when or if was the last time that the provincial government did such a thing but if this is a first it couldn't look better than on the WRDSB.  

  

A "SOFT" TAKEOVER IN EUROPE & THE MIDDLE EAST IT IS NOT

Or at least if after three years of murder, mayhem and war Ukraine ends up negotiating away some of their natural resources (rare minerals) I suppose that some would call that a "soft" takeover of another country's resources. My understanding in Africa is that developed nations around the world have swept in and bought up leases and properties in order to gain access and control to other country's natural resources. It appears that in the Ukraine both the U.S. and Russia are so interested.

The Middle East however confuses me. At one point D. Trump was talking about removing 2 million people from the Gaza Strip and redeveloping it as a tourist destination. Good Lord  are they going to have historical plaques every 100 metres stating that so many hundreds (or thousands) of men, women and children died here whether from aerial bombardment, bullets, starvation or disease? The only positive from Donald Trump's hot air so far has been the lack of snow and warm temperatures for the first three weeks of March here in Ontario. We'll see how long that lasts.

2025 and we think that the world is such a better place than it used to be. Every country in the world has greedy men and women who always want more. They will never be satisfied hence they are always pushing to change the rules to their benefit. More for them could be status, power, prestige, fame, multiple homes, world travel, planes, cars and toys in general plus of course money. These people even within the bounds and rules of civilized societies are dangerous because the world has finite resources and not every greedy piece of crap in the world will ever have enough. Hence whether in Africa or Canada these people learn how to lobby, how to organize and how to get power and authority way beyond what they should considering their moral and ethical considerations.  Generally speaking democracies inhibit their worst behaviour but only somewhat. It is also very possible to have a highly corrupt democracy and perhaps only a marginally corrupt other form of government. 

Democracies need more work but elected politicians are loath to interrupt their personal gravy trains. Even within political parties the infighting can be brutal as ambitious people jockey for position. Just watch what happens every time a party leader loses an election, resigns or gets caught unawares in a crisis . As often or not it is his "friends and colleagues" who plunge the knife into him.

NEXT MOSTLY USELESS TRAC MEETING - THURSDAY APRIL 10/25 AT 6:00 P.M.

 

This date is of course subject to immediate change without notice at the whim of Lanxess and likely even the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP).  As usual recently I have no intentions of wasting my time attending and being muted by lickspittles, incompetents and Lanxess fellow travellors. The meeting is video taped and is put on the Woolwich Township website a few days afterwards. That way I can watch the nonsense without either breaking out in tears or erupting in laughter publicly over their asinine assumptions, comments or self-serving fantasies they call facts. 

 The so called technical folks on TRAC have little or no history of what has come before.  At one point in time Susan Bryant could offer her biased recollections of past events but she's pretty well lost that ability. It really isn't that much of a loss however as her past recollections rarely coincided with the public interest much to Lanxess's benefit. 

My expectations are that TRAC will begin the countdown to shutdown. This April meeting is the first in 2025 and Lanxess and friends (MECP) clearly prefer fewer meetings over regular ones. Mayor Sandy Shantz jumped through their hoops and loops to bring them back to the table in September 2015 yet they have rewarded her with fewer face to face meetings with Elmira citizens ever since. For them having to explain their cleanup failures will not be at the top of their Agenda. I'm sure that their new media savvy consultants will have a path forward emphasizing effort, intention and hope for the future . Actually honestly explaining their multiple cleanup failures will never cross their minds.

MOST RECENT E-MAIL COMMUNICATIONS WITH HOPELESS LOCAL POLITICIANS

 

Since Christmas I might guess that I've sent a dozen different e-mails to both Woolwich councillors and Region of Waterloo councillors. It could be more or it could be less. Regardless the subject matter has been about the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis and the failed cleanup(s).  Yesterday I sent both Monday and Tuesday's Blog posting to them. They are titled "  The Human Condition - Lying Has Been Raised To An Art Form By Politicians "  and  " !) The Elmira Groundwater Cleanup  2) The Canagagigue  Cleanup  3) The On-Site (Uniroyal Chemical)  Cleanup As Per March 2025 ". 

As I've stated in the past my purpose has been to ignore the gilded lily interpretation of the failed cleanups by all the guilty parties  in favour of the blunt and indisputable facts.  It has also been an attempt to draw out surely at least the few councillors (municipal or regional)  who do not like drinking the Kool Aid. i.e. those who can think for themselves and no matter how smooth the untruthful road has become want to know which "facts" are truthful and which are simply self-serving fantasies. 

It is even possible that a few of these more honest and intelligent councillors can see what the future is going to bring if they don't step up and demand a real cleanup versus the polluter driven efforts to date.

THE HUMAN CONDITION - LYING HAS BEEN RAISED TO AN ART FORM BY POLITICIANS

 

1) The Wilmot Land Grab  2) The $14 Million AMAZON screw up  3) The Elmira Water Crisis

1) Secrecy and non-disclosure agreements signed by our Regional Chair - seriously all to amass 770 acres for allegedly some unknown future industrial development. Meanwhile destroy productive food producing farmland and threaten our water supply.

2)  So our regional government made an oopsie...a $14 million oopsie by undercharging the new Amazon warehouse in Cambridge (Blair) on their development fees. Oh and one of the alleged reasons for the oopsie is the secrecy whereby the City of Cambridge didn't get around to telling the Region who the new owner of the warehouse was thus the Region undercharged them. (Wholesale versus retail development).

3)  Thirty-five years plus since the Elmira wells were shut down in November 1989.  As per yesterday's post here nothing has been brought to a successful conclusion.  The Elmira Aquifers remain polluted, the Canagagigue Creek remains polluted and the former Uniroyal Chemical site is a toxic time bomb. 

All three of these crises indicate bad governance at both the municipal and regional level. Bad governance specifically includes lying to citizens and electors in order to get your way. Citizens for the love of God throw ALL these bums out in the next election (2026).