Saturday, December 23, 2017

NEARLY THIRTY YEARS OF LESS THAN STELLAR REMEDIATION



Basal gravel unit & preferential flow. Diffusion into the aquitards. Lack of on-site pumping in the heaviest contaminated zones on-site. Failure to ascertain off-site source zones either early on or at all. Nutrite, Varnicolour Chemical, Borg Textiles, multiple service stations etc.. Excess 1300 kg of Chlorobenzene recently discovered in the aquifers. Failure to go back and check downstream Canagagigue Creek after the 1995-96 testing and then the 2001-2006 on-site creekbank remediation. On-site failures of source removal of DNAPLs & LNAPLs. Failure to examine off-site transport to the south and the east of Persistent Organic Pollutants, NDMA etc.. Failure to properly test In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO) for the Elmira Aquifers. Failure to fulfill promises since November 2012 regarding both ISCO and tripling of the volume of off-site aquifer pumping. The red herring and sham of GP-1 & 2 "cleanup" . Hidden "Stroh Drain" from 1985 onwards. Nonsense of all contaminated flow westwards and southwards only on the east side. The lack of east side shallow aquifer containment probably due to a groundwater trench deflecting groundwater east and south or else a reactive barrier. The fallacy of the "phantom mound" on Nutrite's property south-west of Uniroyal. Site Specific Risk Assessment gamesmanship and manipulation. Hidden agreements, subtly amended Control Orders prior to public discussion.

These assuredly are not the only failures either intentional or otherwise. These are all simply from memory on the spur of the moment. Uniroyal, Crompton, Chemtura, Lanxess combined with Conestoga-Rovers and GHD have taken Woolwich citizens and the public on a thirty year merry-go-round. They have been aided and abetted by the Ontario Ministry of Environment all along with "fellow travellors" in local politics. Much of these failures are only known because of a few local citizens who have hung in. Dr. Jackson also advised on several that he alone discovered. This is the pathetic result and intent of those in positions of money and power. The good news of course is the many citizens over the last three decades who have stood up and said no. It includes media such as the Elmira Independent, Woolwich Observer, K-W Record and CKCO-TV who have attempted to keep this ongoing cover up and misdirection in the public's eye. In the early days there were also national media who stepped up and carried the Elmira Water Crisis far and wide. This crisis and following cover up are merely a very small metaphor for politics as usual in Ontario and Canada.

2 comments:

  1. As a retired Federal Environment scientist and still having contacts with MOECC, my 2017 Christmas present to you is to make you an honorary member of MOECC so that you always will feel like you have friends around you. Merry Christmas Alan and take a break till 2018 as my personal present.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's the thought that counts hence thanks for the sentiments but frankly I would be ashamed to be friends with the Ontario MOECC. I have however met a couple of M.O.E. folks over the decades that I respect, but not many. Bob Hillier (hydrogeologist) I believe was one of the good ones. Jaimie Connolly disappointed me a couple of times but he also came through on a number of occasions. Lastly Steve Martindale had a number of virtues and attributes although he was sorely constrained by politicos above him.

    ReplyDelete