NO WRITTEN RESPONSE FROM ONTARIO M.O.E. YET

Nine days ago (Wed. Aug. 17/11) I e-mailed the Ministry of the Environment both in Hamilton and the Guelph District Office with eight questions/comments about the recent Varnicolor Chemical excavations. While I have had no difficulty in speaking with various M.O.E. officers in Guelph, to date I have no response to my specific written questions detailing peculiarities and inconsistencies in the explanations given for the excavation. While the M.O.E. officers to whom I have spoken seem to be quite satisfied with the ongoing remediation, the fact remains that twenty years ago we were told that with the excavations at that time combined with pumping and treating of groundwater; the entire site would be satisfactorily remediated within five to ten years. Now TWENTY YEARS later somebody has discovered that the pump and treat system needs to be expanded and enhanced. Is it possible that the citizens of Elmira were sold a bill of goods twenty years ago surrounding this site on Union St.? Is it probable as I have maintained for the last couple of years that indeed this site directly contributed to the poisoning of our drinking water aquifer? The M.O.E. ignored their own hydrogeological experts and their own Control Order twenty years ago. Now we are paying the price.