M.O.E. SUBTERFUGE AND DECEPTION

Last Tuesday June 22/10 in the Elmira Advocate I mentioned that I would be commenting further on the M.O.E.'s back door methods of removing onerous but environmentally appropriate regulations that had been put on proven polluters. The 1991 Control Order issued to Uniroyal Chemical was such a document. It was the "bible" as far as Elmira activists were concerned, in order to clean up the Uniroyal site . It ordered 100% hydraulic containment in ALL aquifers (never been done much less attempted) and it ordered the removal of DNAPLS as a contaminant source with specific reference to the DNAPLS in the former operating lagoons in the south-west corner.

I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW THE RESPONSE TO THE GUTTING OF THIS DOCUMENT BY THE RANK AND FILE APT ENVIRONMENT MEMBERS.

For years at public CPAC meetings when I or other CPAC members would try to hold the M.O.E. to this document, both they and Chemtura (Uniroyal) would wiggle and bullshit but NEVER, ever, did they say the simple words "We don't have to, it's been amended.". Not until the fall of 2007 when I was in the midst of appealing a proposed Certificate of Approval did the M.O.E. and Chemtura come clean. Since then I've dug into past documentation intensively and all I've found are repeated statements that Chemtura wanted a temporary EIGHT month amendment not a permanent one. Both Pat McLean and Susan Bryant in the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008 stated publicly at CPAC that they had no knowledge of any Amendment to the 1991 Control Order as did I.

On May 12, 2008 I produced a five page document which went to CPAC and the media explaining all the details of this nefarious breach and betrayal of the public trust.
THE SILENCE FROM CPAC ON THIS WATERSHED EVENT HAS SINCE BEEN STUNNING. THE LACK OF PUBLIC QUESTIONS OR DEMANDS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY BY CPAC TO THE ONTARIO M.O.E. HAVE TARNISHED EVERYONE.

Is this one more example Pat of your penchant for private meetings and dealings with the company and Ministry (M.O.E.) or have you done nothing?