AN INTERESTING TAG MEETING LAST NIGHT IN A NUMBER OF WAYS

Maybe I'm making a point of it? If pretend mayor Sandy Shantz wants to attend TAG meetings and speak out, then guess what? Me too. She is no more a TAG member than I, yet she feels that she can speak out, ask questions and verbally participate. Sorry but what is good for the goose is good for the gander too. ........................................................................................................................ Under New Business were my two Open Letters to TAG as well as to Woolwich and Regional Councils. Essentially it was about my Blog post here of May 14/21 regarding Dr. Jackson's tenure as TAG Chair (Sept. 2015 - Dec. 2016) and his very strong criticisms of the Elmira "cleanup" over the previous twenty-five years. There were numerous specific, technical criticisms by Dr. Jackson that TAG members 1) needed to know and 2) needed to understand. Oddly TAG members had neither comments nor questions and frankly I can hardly believe that all of them fully understood and followed things like basal gravel units, suspended sediment testing etc. without some clarification. Not a good look. .................................................................................................................................. Dustin Martin spoke to the East Side Supplemental Groundwater Investigation. He advised that both the initial report as well as the followup report did not adequately delineate groundwater flow on the Stroh property. This included the finding of NDMA 240 metres east of the Uniroyal/Lanxess property line with the Stroh farm. Upgradient or cross gradient NDMA detections need to be clarified. For me it's likely not groundwater flow but gravity flowing surface water from the former waste pits especially the northern ones that took NDMA that far east. Lanxess's consultants, GHD, agreed to better clarify and rationalize groundwater flow. Dustin mentioned that TAG were looking forward to receiving the alleged sediment results taken somewhere in the Stroh Drain last year. He also advised that GHD/Lanxess, the nervy buggers, strongly insist that all soil issues are closed and off the table. Dustin advised that TAG still want to see the sediment results first. Again I believe that they could be a red herring. We were given zero input as to where they were taken, how deep they were, who sampled and how (stupid shovel method again?), were samples split with the MECP for testing etc. etc. etc. It's a matter of trust unfortunately and I don't trust Lanxess, GHD anymore than I trusted Uniroyal/Chemtura and CRA. .................................................................................................................... Sebastian spoke about both the upcoming new creek sediment results (2020) as well as the Stroh Drain sediments. He was far too focused on the possibility that the Stroh sediments will be a smoking gun. Maybe they will but just as likely they won't whether taken honestly and properly or otherwise. Soil samples are needed, for the one hundredth time, to the immediate east of the north end of the Stroh Drain, in the low lying bowl shaped area where dioxins, DDT and more likely settled out. ............................................................................................................................. Wilson Lau spoke about the Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) and the vulnerabilities of the downstream Old Order Mennonite families. He referenced more of the plethora of private meetings going on between some TAG members and the MECP, Lanxess, GHD. These private meetings have been badly abused in the past with select, favoured and amenable UPAC and CPAC members only being invited. This is also by definition not public consultation when done in private. Wilson felt that details regarding exposure risks were not adequately covered and hence a second private meeting took place on May 20, 2021 with Louis Almeida and April Gowing of GHD. Special attention was given to dairy, egg and livestock potential transfers of contaminants to humans. Regarding intergenerational bioaccumulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants, GHD promised that a robust reasoning would be given if contaminant pathways to humans were determined to be incomplete. Promises have been nothing but wind for the last thirty-two years. What if anything has changed? ................................................................................................................................. Susan is appropriately concerned that downstream residents are already carrying a large body burden of dioxins and DDT. She suggested that DNA mutations are very possible from DDT and other chemicals in the creek. Sebastian asked whether GHD had interviewed the downstream residents. The answer was unclear as of course Lanxess, GHD and the Ministry of Environment were not present to answer any questions. What a joke. Six years ago Sandy Shantz and Mark Bauman claimed a "CRISIS" when those twits refused to attend public CPAC meetings. Now it's routine. Hypocritical shits. .................................................................................................................. Tiffany, TAG Chair, stated that the MECP want more groundwater done not soil sampling. Lanxess suggest that greater groundwater delineation is not needed. Of course they do. Afterall if they were to delineate shallow groundwater flow they would prove that the Stroh Drain is diverting on-site contaminated Lanxess groundwater off-site to the Stroh property and from there downstream back into the Canagagigue Creek. There was a mention that Lanxess and Stroh are two private property owners and hence what occurs between them is their business only. Horse manure the instant it negatively affects either the environment or human receptors downstream. Another argumant given was that there is no potable water supply on the Stroh property hence no human health risks. Therefore greater delineation is not necessary. Firstly there is an active drinking well further east on the Stroh property and secondly if the Stroh Drain since 1983 has collected highly contaminated water it has run it through the Martin swimming pond further south. There is yet more human receptors of Uniroyal/Lanxess contamination. ............................................................................................................ Linda Dickson put on her land use hat and suggested that human health will be affected with future development and land use of the Stroh property. Linda correctly insisted that Lanxess is an industrial brownfield..."a huge, huge brownfield". Therefore soil issues do matter and are serious. Well done Linda! Dustin advised that the Ministry of Environment's (MECP) position is that the Stroh site has been remediated appropriately. Tiffany Svensson also said that the Stroh "cleanup" is O.K. Wow! She also suggested that the Stroh cleanup is not public information. Wow again. Well folks this is your public tax dollars at work covering up environmental degradation and contamination. The MOE/MECP likely would have to share some of the cleanup costs of the Stroh soils the same way they are sharing 50/50 the costs of cleaning the Elmira Aquifers. Talk about a CONFLICT OF INTEREST ! Their budget versus citizens' health. .......................................................................................................... There was a tiny issue around whether or not there had been a report regarding the miniscule Stroh property "cleanup". Tiffany suggested that confirmatory sampling had caused a secondary further cleanup which I found strange. I do know that the tiny (5.9 inches deep) cleanup started in late fall or winter and that stopped during bad weather (Jan/FEB?) to be continued and finished in March. Clearly private behind the scenes discussions continue to the detriment of public understanding of what is and has been "concluded". Clearly Lanxess/GHD/MECP knew from the getgo that the tiny Stroh "cleanup" along the property line was all that was going to be done courtesy of refusing to do appropriate soil samples further south near the north end of the Stroh Drain. It appears Tiffany has made private agreements with the MECP, Lanxess and Woolwich Twn. which will benefit her (& her employer) far more than it will the public's interests. This is soft corruption at its' finest folks. Likely the majority of TAG members don't even know that they are being manipulated although by now they should have detected a fairly strong and peculiar odour. .................................................................................................................... David H. gave a synoposis about the 2020 Annual Environmental report and Lind D. discussed the ongoing monthly Progress Reports (March, April, May 2021). ......................................................................................................................................... Overall the Elmira coverup continues and the guilty parties' interests are being well protected at all political levels. Well done Sandy and friends.