NO ENVIRONMENTAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Something is very wrong with this picture. Elmira residents, thirteen years before Walkerton residents, were on the receiving end of an environmental travesty and tragedy. Many of us who were and are deeply involved with this grotesque government and industry failure received assurances from politicians and government agencies (M.O.E.) that they had learned their lessons. Among other things they would involve the public more. They would keep us informed of ALL environmental matters pertaining to Elmira and Woolwich Township. UPAC (now CPAC) was to be a vehicle for information sharing. Instead it's become a validation for M.O.E. relaxation of monitoring and environmental control of Chemtura (Uniroyal).

Consider the following a public test of all our knowledge of current Elmira environmental events: Did you know that five years ago CRA, consultants to Chemtura were convicted of an environmental offence dealing with discharge of Trichloroethylene contaminated water to the Grand River?
Did you know that Trylon in Elmira were convicted on three counts for environmental offences in 2006?
Did you know that the former Strauss fuels site across from the former Martin's Pet Food was the subject of a M.O.E. Control Order back in 2004?
Did you know that prior to that cleanup there was an Appeal of the Control Order which was then sucessfully renegotiated, although the ERT (Environmental Review Tribunal), after the fact, assurred the public that their interests had been protected. Really?
Did you know that currently the M.O.E. are attempting to get Elmira Pump, who are located at Union & Howard Ave. (formerly part of Varnicolor Chemical), to get their on site monitoring well records up to date?
Did you know that the Elmira citizens who brought Varnicolor down in the first place, DESPITE M.O.E. protection, are being refused ALL groundwater monitoring data for both the Union St. site and the LOT 91 site?
Did you know that the Environmental registry via the EBR (Environmental Bill of Rights) is supposed to list all Control Orders, Certificates of Approval, Amendments to same, Charges, Environmental Proposals etc. ? Yesterday I searched on the Environmental Registry for all the environmental proposals ongoing in Woolwich Township and found nothing. Either it's not there or it's inaccessible to the average, non computer expert Joe, like me.

INFORMATION IS POWER and our governments don't want citizens to have that power.