REGIONAL COUNCILLORS UPDATED ON LANXESS, MECP AND PUBLIC CONSULTATION CHARADE

As mentioned last Saturday four CPAC members (Dr. Dan, Richard, Viv and I have sent e-mails to TAG, Woolwich Council, Ontario Ministry of Environment and two media outlets namely the Waterloo Region Record and the Woolwich Observer. Also of great note are two letters/e-mails sent to the TAG Chair and members last September dated September 2 and 9 by Dr. Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach, the only member of both TAG and CPAC (Citizens Public Advisory Committeee). The September 9/20 letter/e-mail is an outstanding statement of principles describing the need for facts and evidence in decision making versus "professional", "expert" opinions by client driven consultants working for Lanxess Canada. It also states Sebastian's core principles and position regarding the years long coverup and gamesmanship surrounding the Strh farm contamination with Uniroyal Chemical solvents, NDMA, dioxins/furans, DDT and many other toxic chemicals. ..................................................................................................................... It is unfortunate that this coverup of the extent, severity and appropriate remediation of the Stroh farm is but only one of a long list of cleanup scams, shams and charades over the last thirty years. Way back in the late 90s and early 2000s I publicly displayed a large banner that read "The cleanup is a sham". All the guilty parties (Lanxess, MOE/MECP, Woolwich Township) have been lying and pretending to be first and foremost concerned with both public health and the health of the environment. In reality it's all been about minimizing the truth and the needed costs to properly clean up Uniroyal Chemical's mess, all the while maximizing positive public relations for the guilty parties. ............................................................................................................ So what are some of the other cleanup scams foisted upon unsuspecting Woolwich, Elmira and downstream communities? The first and possibly still biggest was the DNAPL (dense non aqueous phase liquids) scam, aided and abetted by private discussions between Uniroyal and APT Environment members between 1992 and 1994. Let me be very clear here. That is surrepticious discussions between two or three only APT members and Uniroyal Chemical. The other APT members were also lied to. The sweetener may have been false promises of greater creek protection/cleanup in exchange for dropping DNAPL opposition. The greater creek protection/cleanup plans still havn't occurred. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Secondly the failure to hydraulically contain 100% of Uniroyal Chemical's contaminated groundwater, particularly shallow groundwater discharging to the creek. Other scams have included excluding other major polluters in town such as Nutrite and Varnicolor Chemical from full public scrutiny. This scam was between Uniroyal and the MOE/MECP. The severity of the ammonia contamination from Nutrite was also hidden for over a decade from the public. Promises to triple off-site pumping of contaminated groundwater in November 2012 has never happened. Likely phony excavations of GP-1 and capping of GP-2 also join the list. Failures to follow up on known east side contamination onto the Stroh farm as far back as the 1980s is/was a major scam. The sham of public consultation simply degenerated into a farce under Sandy Shantz and the last two Woolwich Councils to all their shame. The whole scam of hydraulic containment both on and off the Uniroyal site versus appropriate source removal is also a mjor cause of the now admitted failure to remediate Elmira's drinking water aquifers by 2028. ................................................................................................................. As per the title above, I have sent the Friday e-mails along to our regional councillors yesterday. I expect nothing or less from them. Let's be honest here. They are politicians first and human beings second, generally speaking. Any that aren't are carefully managed by the rest. My purpose in keeping regional council in the loop is simply to reduce their plausible deniability. If and when there is a real reckoning there needs to be a record of their complicity and lack of action.