Saturday, June 14, 2014

INDOOR TCE LEVELS IN THE BISHOP ST. COMMUNITY



The latest Bishop St. Community newsletter (June 2014) has come out. In my opinion it is paternalistic, condescending and deceptive. We are advised of the "diligent" work of various government agencies on our behalf and I suppose we should be thankful. Afterall wouldn't it be sad if we were paying high taxes for the protection of ourselves and our children only to find that local industry had sucessfully evaded scrutiny long enough to contaminate the air in over 500 of our nearby homes?

Yes according to the Table on page two, the indoor air concentrations of Trichloroethylene are definitely decreasing. However they have a long ways to go but meanwhile human beings are still living in those homes at levels above the current Ontario standard of .5 ug/m3. This standard a few years ago was 2.3 ug/m3 but was lowered based upon U.S. jurisdictions combined with the latest health studies.

Who the hell does the Region of Waterloo, Ministry of the Environment, Grand River Conservation Authority and City of Cambridge think they are? Their names and logos are on the last page of this Newsletter and they are obviously endorsing its' advice to residents who continue to live in TCE contaminated homes. Contaminated by two local companies who allegedly were being monitored by our Ministry of the Environment. Nearby drinking well P6, monitored by the Region, we are informed has not been impacted by TCE. Horsefeathers! The Region in one breath can tell us in the newsletter that well P6 has been out of service for three years due to a deteriorated well liner but there is no urgency or priority to repair it. Then starting June 1 each year the whole Region including Cambridge are on lawn watering restrictions to conserve our water supply. Utterly ridiculous and unbelievable!

We are also advised that the total number of homes being monitored or remediated are constantly decreasing. This is so based upon "...when homes have two sequential air samples with TCE concentrations less than or equal to .5 ug/m3, they are taken off the annual winter home air monitoring list.". Really! Please, M.O.E. and Region firstly show us one single scientific validation for your assumption that contaminated indoor air by TCE cannot have two anomalous low readings. Secondly please scientifically validate if two readings taken weeks apart, perhaps a few minutes after doors were open, could not be below the standard while the rest of the time they are above the standard; never to be tested again. This is unconscionable at least until the entire aquifer has had TCE removed from it. You are still testing seeps and Grand River water for TCE further away from Northstar and G.E. (Rozell) than these homes; so how dare you remove any of them from monitoring!

Our authorities continue to pat themselves on the back for closing the gate long after the horse has bolted. Do any Region of Waterloo Health Department personnel live in the Bishop St. community? How about the M.O.E.? It never fails to amaze me how little tax dollars can be spent where they are desperately needed versus how many can be spent on politicians' pet projects and legacy projects.

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