SAFETY-KLEEN IN BRESLAU

Visually either from Woolwich Rd. #17 looking down onto the Grand River or from an aerial view, it looks like a moonscape. This view will never make one of Carl Hiebert's stunning photographic books. A huge part of the problem is the Forwell Sand & Gravel pit(s) along the river. Thay are massive. The other part of the problem is Safety-Kleen. This site is and has been for decades an environmental abomination. Five former waste lagoons have contributed to the toxic contamination of both the shallow and deeper aquifers. Some of these contaminants have travelled by groudwater all the way to the former Regional drinking wells, K70 & K71. The really nasty stuff includes benzene, P.C.B.'s, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, hexachlorobenzene and pentachlorophenol. Historical overland travel of contaminants via a small creek discharging into the Grand River can hardly be ignored. The Region of Waterloo have long claimed that the influence of river water and bacteria are the reason these wells were closed. That is strange considering that they were built as induced infiltration (river water) wells. It is also strange as there are a number of other wellfields along the Grand River of a similar design. Currently Safety-Kleen are in the process of expanding onto their contaminated land with a warehouse, safety-flare and storm water pond. Yours truly is in discussions with the Planning Department of Woolwich Township in regards to zoning and site planning issues around this expansion.