STEP BY STEP PROCESS ON EAST SIDE OF CHEMTURA (LANXESS) IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

Of course what all our professional deceivers like to suggest is that the cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers, the Canagagigue Creek and the east side (Stroh & Martin farms) is a win win for everybody. What a pile of pus. Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura /Lanxess have all had the same goal and that is to stretch out the minimum number of dollars over the maximum amount of time. Do you think that next year's thirtieth anniversary since the shutdown of the Elmira well fields is just bad luck? Do you think that the "discovery" of ongoing, persistent toxic pollution in the creek sediments and floodplains was not easily predictable and forseeable? Was it simply a combination of magnificent volunteerism and good fortune that the current CPAC (Citizens Public Advisory Committee) discovered that the Stroh and Martin farms were contaminated? All the guilty parties, both private and public, knew about that since the beginning.

It was 2014 when CPAC announced their discoveries on the east side. Much of it was from old reports that I dug up and reread in the light of the knowledge we had by that date. CPAC hired with the support of the 2010-2014 Woolwich Council, MTE Consulting who along with myself and a couple of other CPAC members researched the old reports. MTE followed up with more of their own research and the result was given to Woolwich Council, the Ministry of Environment, Chemtura and the public.

Almost three and half years have passed and Chemrura (Lanxess) have stalled and delayed the inevitable findings of Dioxin and DDT contaminated and more farmland. There are exceedances of the criteria of both compounds (& more) on the east side of Lanxess. Now we will see the super cheap cleanup. It has been set up by the initial testing itself as well as by the strung out, step by step process. Quite frankly none of the new volunteers to TAG are going to be going back and reviewing in depth the preceding steps to this last report just released. There are reports not only in 2015 but also relevant reports dealing with Dioxin and DDT testing in the on-site gravel pits (GP-1 & 2) in 2013 and 2014. Frankly I doubt that the one older volunteer with experience will do so either.

Regarding the initial testing, both CPAC and TAG members have made it clear that surficial soil testing only along the eastern border is inadequate and ridiculous. GHD, Lanxess's consultants, state that their soil testing is between 0 and 15 centimetres deep. That is from literally the top of the ground to a whole six inches deep. The claim that DDT and Dioxins and other hydrophobic compounds readily adhere to soil particles and can't go deeper is sheer obfuscation. A site highly contaminated with solvents that do readily dissolve hydrophobic compounds has no problem carrying these contaminants much deeper. The other problem is their "composite" soil sampling. This has been described by experts as simply averaging away the highest readings of contaminants. This is done by taking eleven spread out soil samples and then hand mixing them in a large bag and then pulling out one composite sample. Lastly is the inadequate locations for the sampling. While there is nothing wrong with where they are testing, eveything is wrong with where they aren't. The most likely repository or "sink" for DDT, Dioxins, PCBs and more has been repeatedly pointed out to the MOECC and Chemtura (Lanxess) and then ignored. You will never find what you refuse to look for and test for.