HAPPY LABOUR DAY

We've earned it and we deserve it!

Firstly a reminder of a couple of upcoming meetings: This Thursday 7- 9 pm. at 1010 Erbs Rd. Waterloo and the following Monday 7- 9 pm. at the GRCA headquarters on Clyde Rd. in Cambridge. These meetings are in regards to Source Water protection in the Grand River watershed. I did a posting about them here in the Advocate on August 16/10.

THE REGION & CRA CONVICTED OF ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENCES

I am confused. I have often indicated my opinion/position that the environmental authorities look out for each other's interests versus those of the public. The following is old news, unless of course you missed it the first time. April 18, 2005 the K-W Record carried a tiny story which had been in the Guelph Mercury : "They were charged, convicted and fined $25,000 Ministry of the Environment spokesman Mark Rabbior said friday." This speaks to CRA (Conestoga Rovers & Assoc.) repeatedly discharging from their client's plant (GSW) in Fergus, Trichloroethylene above the maximum limit, into the Grand River.
Secondly the Region of Waterloo were fined $10,000 on January 6, 2009 for discharging untreated drinking water into the distribution system. It appears that human error was the cause and that remedial measures, after the fact, were taken by the Region. Nevertheless the M.O.E. charged the Region of Waterloo with a drinking water violation that occurred at well G7 in Cambridge.

It would be easy to suggest that both CRA & the Region are deserving recipients of these charges but keep in mind that the body laying the charges (M.O.E.) does not remotely have the moral high ground. Thus these two scenarios have me confused. Was there a temporary breakdown in solidarity? Was this a little payback for hard nosed bargaining by the Region of Waterloo? In Elmira, regarding Chemtura (Uniroyal), the M.O.E. take more BS and nonsense without retaliation than you can imagine. Again was this payback? This is one of those instances that don't follow the pattern and thus you file in the back of your mind for future thought and reference.