THE SAME TITLE AS TWO DAYS AGO !

Guilty parties are always hoping that their past sins will be forgotten often in the hope that they can get away with new sins. Sorry not on my watch. Adam Loney, a name from the past, on behalf of Conestoga Rovers (CRA) gave a presentation on constructed wetlands. I am sincerely sorry to say that I was advised quite a while back that Adam had passed on prematurely. He was a very young man. I do not know if there is a connection but I do know that both on-line and in conversations with former CRA employees I've been advised that CRA do not have any work/life balance. It reminds me of law firms constantly pushing their young lawyers for billable hours.

The idea that CRA had was to build wetlands at the south end of the Crompton/Chemtura site for the purpose of breaking down the ammonia in the water. This ammonia was partly from the Nutrite/Yara property next door. Both the Elmira Independent (Julie Sawyer) and the Woolwich Observer (Joanne Peach) reported in their papers on this matter on January 24, 2003 and January 25, 2003. Adam Loney suggested that it would take one year for the pilot system and two years for the whole thing to be up and running. The other term for this idea was engineered wetlands.

In the February 13, 2003 K-W Record, Bob Burtt wrote that there had been an out of court settlement between Uniroyal/Crompton and the Machens, Chalmers, Fulchers and Posts of Elmira. The confidential (sort of) settlement included Crompton buying all their houses. It also allegedly included them not stating that APT had been helpful towards them getting a settlement. Funny how the professional Bullsh...... at Uniroyal/Crompton rolled over so quickly when facing hard facts against them in a venue (court) they apparently could not control. This is not any kudos towards our corrupt judicial system. The hard facts and stench were all out there for the public to know and the courts prefer not to bring the administration of justice into public disrepute.

The K-W Record announced on February 19, 2003 that Crompton and Jeff merriman had been charged with hindering a Minstry of Environment officer performing his duties. This was in regards to a spill that took place back on August 22, 2001. On February 25, 2003 the Record published a story regarding the findings of the highly criticized and reviled Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) and the Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA). Even to this day there are discussions denigrating Risk Assessments underway in Elmira. The public were advised that there are slightly greater risks of getting cancer for employees and trespassers on the site. My heart goes out to Uniroyal employees past and present as I suspect that they and their families have paid a price for steady employment. The ERA concluded that the only increased risks were for earthworms and rodents (shrews). Really? But no increased risks for their predators such as small birds, hawks, owls, foxes, coyotes etc.. Hardly credible.

The February 28, 2003 Independent story by Julie Sawyer discussed the HHRA further. Dioxins and DDT were considered the only Chemicals of Concern (COC). Lindane, dieldrin and benzo (a) pyrene were allegedly not a health hazard according to Peter Hicks of Conestoga Rovers. The big finding was that the EAST SIDE held the largest risks for humans and wildlife. Well that's interesting in regards to the current testing of soil and groundwater on the Stroh farm on Chemtura/Lanxess's EAST SIDE.