ANOTHER MEDIA STORY ON THE FORMER VARNICOLOR CHEMICAL

This week's Woolwich Observer dated May 26 carried the following story on page 4 titled "Environmental assessment the first step in development plan for former Varnicolor site". This link only takes you to the Observer. At that point on the right side of their page you can download their newspaper and find this story on page four. Keith Metzger of Peritus Environmental was interviewed for the story as was David Brenneman, CAO of Woolwich Township. Both felt that the meeting was a good two way flow of information and questions. To date I still have no confirmation or clarification in regards to an alleged interview/meeting that I had with XCG consultants back in 2001 as part of the Environmental Site Assessment Phase 1 when the site was purchased by Elmira Pump from Phillip Environmental. This is both bizarre and disconcerting. Whether the three significant and informative meetings I had with Mr. Metzger of Peritus over the previous two weeks regarding the former Varnicolor site somehow atone for that bizarre issue, I do not know.

I was very pleased with the media interest in the former Varnicolor's Risk Assessment with CKCO-TV attending the meeting and our two local newspapers (Record & Observer) filing stories afterwards. All three appear to have understood the situation in that only the top ten to fifteen feet of the site has been well remediated. This is through no fault of either Elmira Pump nor Peritus Environmental. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (M.O.E.) are in complete control of the process and if a new owner ever wants to receive a Record of Site Condition from the M.O.E. then they have to play ball. Thus wwhen the Ministry says put in fifteen to twenty shallow boreholes and monitoring wells and only one intermediate and one deep borehole and well; then that is exactly what you do.

The issue of still remaining deeper contamination while at low concentrations albeit above drinking water standards was raised at the public Risk Assessment meeting by both Mayor Shantz and myself. She expressed concern with leaving these contaminants including Trichloroethylene, Vinyl Chloride, Dichloroethylene and more in place. I believe that if NDMA had been tested for even half as much as the other contaminants that it too would have been detected at depth as well as previously in the surficial aquifer. The fact that the next step as indicated by Keith Metzger is to discuss the findings of the Risk Assessment with Chemtura and their consultants speaks volumes. Chemtura are tasked with remediating the entire Elmira Aquifers and perhaps it would be in their interests to do some deeper work at the former Varnicolor site (now Elmira Pump). I would suggest that if that occurs there is perhaps a fifty-fifty chance of it becoming public knowledge. Afterall nobody likes being told "I told you so".