REGION OF WATERLOO PUBLIC NOTICE

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE REGIONAL OFFICIAL PLAN


The above Notice was published three days ago in the Waterloo Regional Record and as well I believe I saw it yesterday in the Woolwich Observer. The title is the Rationalization of the Boundaries for Elmira, St. Jacobs, and Breslau. Quite frankly I get fed up when I see politicians, consultants, polluters etc. constantly using words like rationalization, optimization etc. Generally speaking their plans are neither optimizing nor rationalizing anything of benefit to the public. They are optimizing and rationalizing benefits for a very few often at the expense of the public.

The Public Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday February 19, 2020 at 5 pm. in Regional Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, 150 Frederick St. Kitchener. What I am most interested in is the finalizing/rationalizing of the boundaries of the "Elmira Township Urban Areas". Allegedly "This change is intended to redirect growth to areas that can be developed more efficiently and cost-effectively on full municipal services." Frankly I believe that that is complete hogwash particularly in regards to the proposed new Elmira Urban Area.

As per the map included with the Public Notice one can see that the plan is to redirect industrial, commercial, and possibly (God help us) residential growth to the east side of Elmira. At the north end of Elmira, the old east side boundary was the Uniroyal Chemical now Lanxess Canada property line. The expanded area further east will include parts of the Stroh farm as well as the Martin farm to the immediate south of the Stroh farm. South of the Martin farm are more agricultural properties which will be impacted.

One of the two biggest problems are the increased flooding in the Canagagigue Creek as it travels south and then primarily east past the Uniroyal Chemical property. The extent of past flooding much less increased future flooding on the east side of Elmira will make everything from road and bridge construction to building construction more costly. The next problem is the apparent intentional hiding and burying of toxic wastes from Uniroyal Chemical currently on the Stroh and Martin properties. These wastes include but are not remotely limited to dioxin/furans, DDT, PCBs, mercury, and lindane. Clear and compelling evidence exists that these toxic liquid wastes flowed from Uniroyal Chemical onto the two east side neighbouring farms. A limited and superficial cleanup of a small part of the Stroh farm took place in 2018. That cleanup at least acknowledged the presence of dioxins/furans and DDT above all provincial and federal guidelines and criteria on the Stroh farm.

To date Lanxess, their consultants GHD, and the Ontario MOE/MECP have refused to do soil testing further south on the Stroh farm. They also have not done to my knowledge any soil testing on the Martin farm. They are terrified, in my opinion, of the results they will find. And of course they are terrified of the costs to clean it all up. I have long suggested that there has been government corruption at various levels involved in the environmental disaster that unfolded here in Elmira. There most certainly has been corruption involved in the failed government "supervised" cleanup over the last thirty years. Incompetence can only be blamed for so long. To my eyes this "rationalization" by our municipal government is but one more step in the corruption process. Decisions that are made for private interests by government rather than made for the public interest are corrupt decisions.