Saturday, July 4, 2020

THE RECORD COMES THROUGH WITH STORY ABOUT UNIROYAL CONTAMINATION ON STROH FARM



Media coverage of Elmira chemical contamination has generally been awful since the Elmira Independent packed it in back in July 2015. I know that the Waterloo Region Record did do a story about the shallow excavations on the Stroh farm (beside Uniroyal/Lanxess) likely in January 2019. Today's story in the Record is titled "Watchdogs say not enough testing near new urban zone in east Elmira". The Record reporter who wrote the story is one Leah Gerber. Oddly while she did e-mail me a week or so ago she never followed up with any phone call or e-mails asking questions or clarifications nor requesting a comment from me. That said she did obviously approach Susan Bryant asking for input which is rather peculiar given Susan's minimal knowledge and input in regards to the east side contamination on the Stroh farm. Either Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach or TAG (Technical Advisory Group) Chair, Tiffany Svensson could have done a better job.

The good news is that despite several errors in the reporting due to not confirming the facts with myself, the author did achieve a number of goals. She had an excellent photograph included which showed the signs along the Canagagigue Creek warning fishermen not to consume any fish that they caught due to chemical contamination. Excellent! Secondly she included the fact that 175,000 gallons per day of LIQUID toxic wastes were were dumped on the east side property from 1948-1970. Thirdly Susan Bryant did at least indicate that the "drainage ditch" i.e. the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) still needs to be investigated and that the investigation work on the Stroh property remains unfinished until the ditch is tested. Of course who knows what is going on in the private meetings outside the public purview. This may well include private discussions with tame, co-opted "environmentalists" who will continue to give the Ministry of Environment, Uniroyal/Lanxess and Woolwich Township the veneer of "public consultation".

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