ERIC HODGINS (RMOW) WARNS TAG ABOUT RISK ASSESSMENTS

About twenty years ago or so the Region of Waterloo warned UPAC that if they kept ignoring the Region's input that they the Region would leave. And they did leave because UPAC were set up to give Uniroyal Chemical every possible break they could. Set up by the Ministry of Environment and by Woolwich Township. Over the years/decades the Region have dropped by on occasion including last Thursday evening. Eric Hodgins advised TAG that the Risk assessment among other things assumed/relied on the continuity of remediation systems in place. This included past efforts to stabilize creekbanks and reduce soil erosion. Eric also advised that Stantec who are assisting have to totally rely on information provided by GHD (Lanxess's consultants) because GHD/CRA have a decades longer understanding of the site. Eric also expressed his frustration with Risk Assessments overall because of what he called the disconnect between the people who assess the risk and the people who know the site much better. He also felt that there were problems with certainty being missing in the Conceptual Site Model. ....................................................................................................... Both Wilson Lau and Sebastian echoed Eric's comments. Sebastian in particular was concerned with Stantec's dependence upon GHD's facts and reporting. Stantec need to look deeper than just data provided by GHD. Sebastian also pointed out that the Bolender Park Landfill accepted local industrial wastes including from Uniroyal Chemical. .......................................................................................................................... Wilson Lau again repeated his question as to whether maximum concentrations have been captured. My response: Most assuredly they have not on the Stroh and Martin properties and even the dumbest (but honest) TAG members know that. Wilson also stated that confirmatory sampling is required in regards to historical capping and excavation along the creek on the Lanxess property. Susan agreed with that. ............................................................................................................ We (the public) finally found out why David Hofbauer has been missing from TAG for so long. He had declared a conflict of interest as he had been working for WSP. Apparently they were possibly bought by GHD and they had assisted GHD with production of the Annual Monitoring Reports (AMR). WOW! Good for David being forthright and shame on TAG (Tiffany) for keeping the real reason for David's absence quiet for so long. Maybe the rest of the TAG members knew (or not?) but this member of the public who attends all the allegedly public TAG meetings did not and have wondered for months where David H. was.

TAG GETS IT BOTH RIGHT BIG TIME & WRONG (SOMEWHAT)

First of all Linda Dickson clarified that the October 4/21 article in the Record in which she advised of her confidence in the planning process (Woolwich) to protect citizens from Lanxess contamination was strictly about the Uniroyal/Lanxess property and did not include the neighbouring Stroh farm. Sorry but that still doesn't make anything better. It was the Woolwich planning process that decided to rezone the Stroh and Martin property to commercial/light industrial allowing future development on contaminated lands. ........................................................................................................................... The "somewhat wrong" matter as per the title above: TAG and TAG members will some day be asked to explain the disgusting policy of not allowing citizens to either ask questions or offer clarifying information at TAG public meetings. TAG will then jump on the fact that citizens are allowed to submit written "delegations" which go on the Agenda for discussion. Unfortunately not for discussion involving the authors of the written "delegation". And in fact not even for discussion by TAG members the majority of the time. I had submitted a "delegation", 2/3 of a page, to TAG dated September 24/21 describing the September 20/21 article in the K-W Record titled "Chemicals found in drain to Elmira's creek". I offerred insights and additional information regarding the Stroh Drain. Zero comments or questions from TAG. I also submitted to TAG as a courtesy my written October 7/21 "delegation" which I had read to the RAC committee that day. That "delegation" was longer (2 pages) and harder hitting as I described environmental and political corruption in Elmira, Ontario from the Ontario Ministry of Environment and from Woolwich Township. Zero comments or questions from TAG. Lastly surprisingly to me my October 8/21 response to Sandy Shantz's (pretend mayor) direct challenge that I provide written proof of local Elmira corruption was also included on last night's TAG Agenda. Zero comments or questions from TAG. ........................................................................................................................ I can't help but see a pattern here. The pattern is very clear that TAG on paper will accept written "delegations" but if they don't agree or approve of them then they will virtually ignore them. How stupid do you have to be not to even ask one clarifying question about a written report that is controversial? How cowardly do you have to be not to ask a single question about detailed, relevant Elmira history presented in the reports from before your time and involvement? How plainly biased does TAG want the public consultation process to be seen as? Most of the TAG members are five minute wonders or less and they won't (or can't?) ask a question of a local citizen involved in the issues since 1989 and earlier? ............................................................................................... Agenda Item 4.1 dealt with the Problem Formulation aspect of the Draft Risk Assessment. Wilson Lau is the TAG member with the most Risk Assessment experience. Well he may be a Risk Assessment expert but, par for the course, he didn't know that the Stroh Drain discharged downstream into what is known as Reach Three of the Canagagigue Creek. He stated that it discharged into Reach Four (further upstream) which includes the Lanxess site and would be included in Risk Assessment measures and mitigation efforts relevant to the site. Dear God! He was corrected by both Eric Hodgins of the Region of Waterloo and Susan Bryant of TAG. They indicated that the Stroh Drain ran through both the Stroh and Martin properties before discharging further downstream from Lanxess and Reach Four. Wilson appeared to be diminishing the significance of the 24.4 ppt TEQ (dioxin) found in the Stroh Drain recently while at the same time suggesting correctly that the sampling of the Stroh Drain to date has not been comprehensive. He repeatedly asked "Is there potential for higher concentrations?" My response is of course there is and more sampling will confirm that. Sebastian also added to the conversation by suggesting that we do not know if 24.4 parts per trillion (criteria is .85 ppt) is an outlier or are there much higher sediment concentrations in areas of the Stroh Drain. Linda Dickson also added her opinion that TAG does not know the maximum sediment concentrations in the Stroh Drain yet due to extremely limited sampling. Well done Susan, Sebastian, Linda and Eric H.. Not so good was Tiffany Svensson (TAG Chair) even mentioning that she does not want TAG to be a bottleneck in the entire process. Careful there Tiffany or your biases might show. .................................................................................................................... Dustin Martin of TAG as well as Wilson both appeared to be advising that there is a data gap related to sources and or to the Stroh Drain. Wilson suggested that it needs to be addressed sooner than later. He also repeated his earlier questions and comments namely: "Is the data set sufficient?" .............................................................................................................. I may post again tomorrow about last night's TAG meeting. Meanwhile while I applaud TAG's efforts to gently, politely and professionally push Lanxess in the right direction I must add that neither Lanxess nor the Min. of Environemnet (MOE/MECP) give a rat's butkus about polite, gentle pushing. Anything other than a between the eyes or much lower strike simply doesn't bother them in the least.

STEVE KANNON (OBSERVER) TAKES WOOLWICH COUNCIL & COUNCILLOR MURRAY MARTIN TO TASK

Well done Steve and well done Woolwich Observer. Councillor Murray Martin has been a well known dinosaur for decades on Woolwich Council. How the hell he gets re-elected is to the shame of the voters in his ward who apparently ignore his words, actions and non-actions except every four years when they re-elect him. Apparently the Mennonite last name helps as it has for so many Martins, Shantz's, Bauman's over the decades. Dinosaur is actually a compliment in describing Councillor Martin. He appears to specialize in not reading reports and instead basing his decisions on his extensive age and life experience. It also helps that he knows where his bread is buttered and rarely rocks the boat with positions contrary to the status quo. Debate or discussion with him is nearly impossible as he does not listen but merely dogmatically holds his position. The fact that he was found to be biased as in supporting the Capitol Paving application for a gravel pit near Maryhill was absolutely no surprise at all. Nor was the fact that he prematurely let his rock solid position be known at a public council meeting is par for the course. He is far too stupid to be able to pretend impartiality as other councillors do until voting time when they pompously announce that after due consideration they are going to support this party versus that party's position. Debate and discussion are supposed to be public but that's actually just for show. Councillors are lobbied privately and generally group decisons made privately including occasional alleged dissent and opposing votes allowed. It's all a crock. ........................................................................................................................... Councillor Scott McMillan has publicly defended Council's decision to not impose penalties on Councillor Martin. These sanctions/penalties were recommended by the Integrity Commissioner. Don't get me wrong. I fully expect that the Integrity Comissioner is just one more cog in the alleged accountability wheel. That Woolwich Council chose not to further expose or sanction the horrid governance provided by Murray Martin for decades was to be expected. Afterall he is a good old boy who can generally be depended on to go with the flow (i.e. council's will). ............................................................................................ Quoting Steve Kannon's last paragraph: (I have capitolized all words) "POLITICIANS WRITE THE RULES FOR THEMSELVES. THEY PREFER NO RULES, BUT FAILING THAT THEY DRAFT VAGUE RULES WITH NO ENFORCEMENT. IF THERE MUST BE ENFORCEMENT, THEN THERE ARE NO PENALTIES FOR BREAKING THE RULES." ................................................................................................................ And there it is. One more example of exactly what Steve is talking about is the Municipal Elections Act and rules around election financing reports. The rules and alleged sanctions are all smoke and mirrors with more effort focused on stick handling around the rules and avoiding/minimizing the so called penalties. Woolwich politicians had decades of experience in doing exactly that prior to my stepping in after the October 2014 municipal election. Even then they mostly skated away unscathed with only minor abrasions mostly to their egos.

IS COLLUSION and DECEIT BY OUR AUTHORITIES EVER JUSTIFIED?

I expect that one could come up with a set of circumstances in which blatant lying to the public by our politicians might actually be viewed as the best of a number of very poor options. For example if they learned a mere month or so ahead of time that a massive earth shattering asteroid was on course for a direct hit that would most likely wipe out both the earth and humanity, would a month of world wide panic and fear help anyone or anything? Undoubtedly other less dramatic scenarios might also justify blatant lying and deceit towards the rest of humanity. ...................................................................................................... Notice the use of the word "might" in the previous sentence. How about the residential school crisis that occurred here in Canada? How about the 60s "scoop"? And on and on as governments have come up with incredibly harmful actions towards large groups of Canadians and then decided that it was in everyone's best interests to cover it all up. Deny, deny and deny. How about the large numbers of Catholic pedophiles who just like bad teachers were subject to "Pass the Trash" policies. Both teachers and priests, instead of being disciplined or charged, were transferred to other schools and or parishes. How much of that was done to protect the privacy and mental health of the victims versus to protect the institutions reputation be they schools or churches? .............................................................................................................. That is the rub in all of this. Maybe there are occasions when more good is achieved through silence and secrecy than through honesty and transparency. The question is who gets to make those decisions. It should never be the guilty parties be they provincial or federal governments or schools, churches or hospitals. NEVER! Here in Elmira, Ontario all our municipal, regional and provincial bodies and others have decided that covering up the extent of environmental, human health and wildlife damage is the way to go. The problem is that all three of those levels of government are culpable in the Elmira Crisis. They enabled and protected Uniroyal Chemical from 1942 until the present (Lanxess) in order to maintain employment, local businesses, real estate markets etc. They did this also to protect their own reputations after they grossly failed to protect us from chemical contamination of the air, water and soils in Elmira and the downstream length of the Canagagigue Creek. This coverup included shielding not just Uniroyal Chemical but also Nutrite, Varnicolor Chemical and other local polluters from prosecution. It included refusing health studies that could have detected cancers in the population much earlier. It included denying the length of time that they knew that NDMA and solvents were in our drinking water aquifers and drinking wells. It has been both a massive health and environmental coverup and all done to reduce their own culpability and cowardice in not confronting Uniroyal Chemical long before 1989 or the 1980's in general. That coverup continues to this day in order to protect their own reputations and legacies all at the ongoing expense of the people and environment.

DISGUSTING ENABLERS

I guess my focus for decades has been on the two most corrupt parties namely the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP) and on the company whether Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura or now Lanxess. In one sense this has been to reduce friction and increase cooperation with the peripheral parties. The problem is the whole process is similar to either a parliament or a legislature whereby everybody present are members of one political party or another and while they might like to suggest government corruption they generally prefer to suggest that their opposing colleagues are more likely to be incompetent or out of touch. Afterall if too many politicians are exposed as corrupt what does that say about the rest? .................................................................................................................................. The lengthy comment posted by a reader on yesterday's post is an eye opener. The reader strongly takes offense with "enablers". I sometimes refer to these enablers as "fellow travellors". Recently I've taken the gloves off and attempted to expose the depth of corruption surrounding and supporting Lanxess's and the MOE/MECP's efforts to sell their various clean up strategies, risk assessments and other assorted psuedo scientific efforts. These are psuedo scientific because the "science" all comes from GHD as it used to come from Conestoga Rovers (CRA). CRA were often criticized for their rose tinted glasses in interpreting what sometimes might be reasonable science, to their client's financial advantage. Afterall what exactly do you think polluters hire consultants for? To tell the unvarnished, absolute truth? For the love of God people, money rules and always has. ............................................................................................................................. I have recently listed TAG, RAC, MECP, Lanxess, GRCA, Woolwich Council, GHD and Regional Council as corrupt bodies based on their response to my simple question: Would you like to receive the complete copy of the recently received professional soil analyses? Now GHD and the Region did not respond and as I recall the GRCA may also have sent some mumbo jumbo crap about who is or isn't available to respond. Sorry but no answer just means that you are both corrupt and cowardly. For the love of God Lanxess actually stepped up and at least showed some smarts and courage in answering the question directly and forthrightly. All the rest of you are enablers, fellow travellors and guilty as hell. ......................................................................................................................... Now I expect that there are members of these various groups who were not asked for their input. The Chair, mayor, director etc. took it upon themselves to play the game and close ranks around Lanxess Canada. Any honest members need to step up and make a PUBLIC stink. Anything less and you are just as guilty. The fact that private deals between the guilty parties, never released to the public are in existence, has never been so obvious. These never released to the public, private deals, are for good reason. The public interest has been ignored or at best given short shrift. It's all about preserving money, power, influence, reputation and status for both our politicians and our polluters and regulators. There should have been a Public Inquiry or honest equivalent, decades ago. The guilty parties continue to run out the clock so as to avoid accountability and culpability. Witnesses and many victims have and are passing on.

VIRTUAL TAG MEETING THIS THURSDAY AT 6:30 pm

First of all it's past time to make these in council chambers, live meetings again. Whether with conditions such as masks, vaccination status proof or whatever, it is time. There simply has never been anything close to a full house attendance wise. .................................................................................................. Under 3. New Business are two Memos from myself dated September 24/21 and allegedly October 8/21. The problem with the second date is that it is for the day after my RAC Delegation written report of October 7/21. Now I actually wrote and dated my RAC Delegation as October 7 and also had a followup memo the next day dated October 8 dealing with corruption in response to a verbal diatribe from the RAC Chair, Sandy Shantz. She challenged me to put my corruption allegations in writing which is exactly what I did. Mostly the Ministry of Environment and Uniroyal Chemical took the brunt with however some evidence of Woolwich Township (i.e. council) corruption. So the question for me is whether it is my written and spoken October 7 RAC Delegation on the Agenda or is it my October 8 "corruption" response to Sandy. The October 7 RAC Delegation spoke to the five separate but buttressing pieces of evidence that suggest large scale flow of Uniroyal contamination onto the next door Stroh farm. .................................................................................................................. Under Agenda Item 4. there will be a review of Lanxess Draft Risk Assessment, the Ministry of Environment (MECP) Preliminary Review Comments of the Canagagigue Creek Risk Assessment and finally of the August and September Monthly Progress Reports. ....................................................................................................... I found parts of the Minutes of the TAG August 26/21 meeting to be disappointing. Firstly Sebastian's presentation regarding the Stroh Drain sediment results plus some favourable comments were mentioned then followed by some basiclly uninformed or self-serving comments from a TAG member. Essentially it's as if the writer of the Minutes was advised not to make any conclusions or show the direction most TAG members are leaning. This of course makes 180 degree reversals so much easier down the road. Yet another form of corruption perhaps when the Minutes are controlled by Woolwich? ................................................................................................... The next TAG meeting is November 18/21 at 6:30 pm. and RAC meeting December 9/21 at 5 pm.

FOR LANXESS FELLOW TRAVELLORS IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO BE NICE THAN TO BE HONEST

Please note my tongue in cheek "request" to Lisa Schaefer, Woolwich Township employee, below. ............................................................................................................. ................................................ Upcoming TAG meeting2 Yahoo / Sent .............................................. .............................................. ... Alan Marshall To: lschaefer@woolwich.ca ......... Sat., Oct. 23 at 10:01 a.m. .................................................................................................... Lisa: Good morning. I would like to register for next Thursday's (Oct. 28/21) 6:30 pm. on-line TAG meeting. I have a silly, non-serious suggestion that goes like this: For all their mind blowing political (& health) idiocy south of the border there is one thing about American citizens I like. That is they wear their hearts both on their sleeves and on their heads. Hats saying MAGA (Make America Great Again) and I Love Trump leave little doubt about who stands where. It would be nice at RAC and TAG meetings if the participants could either wear black or white hats or even hats that said " I Love Lanxess" or " I Love the MECP". For we citizens prohibited from speaking or asking questions at TAG and only speaking approx. once per year at RAC it would clarify things much sooner. .................................................................................................... Alan Marshall ................................................................. .......................................................................................................... I am kind of expecting a frosty reception this Thursday evening on-line at the virtual TAG meeting. Hmm if I'm not allowed to speak at the meeting then how will I lnow if anybody's upset? Got it. I usually show up early to these meetings and kibbitz (chat, tell jokes, horse around) a little with Lisa and the other early participants prior to the formal start of the meeting and my then exclusion. Maybe that will be curtailed??? Regardless I recommend all citizens who due to Covid are used to wearing masks, register ahead of time (lschaefer@woolwich.ca), and then attend wearing duct tape over your mouths so as to indicate your enjoyment of being first class citizens muzzled by Woolwich mayor and council. Remember them at the municipal elections one year away.

LANXESS DEMONSTRATES BOTH THE LOYALTY AND STUPIDITY OF THEIR PARTNERS IN POLLUTION

Lanxess, GHD, TAG, RAC, MOE/MECP, GRCA, Woolwich Council all hide behind "Qualified Persons" (credentialed experts). Why wouldn't they? The last five groups all have taxpayers money to buy their own "Qualified Persons" literally at will. The first two either employ their own or buy them whenever. There are however many "citizen scientists" as well as very knowledgeable citizens highly experienced in environmental matters but without formal credentials. That said the following e-mail was sent to me by a formally credentialed "Qualified Person". I have already distributed it to CPAC members as well as other highly qualified citizens who do not require letters after their names in order to understand English. ............................................................ ......................................................... ...................................... "Alan. I expect a smokescreen is in place in an attempt to discredit any investigation by any group not sanctioned by the current process with RAC and TAG. .................................................................................................................................... I would look to any data as perhaps a good qualitative data assessment which could be a catalyst for a more quantitative assessment. In simple terms even if the samples and data suggest that a concern exists I refer to this as bucket chemistry in that although the data and methods may not be entirely follow every known best method protocol, nonetheless the data if contamination is detected should form a basis for more thorough investigations. The parties that are bent on following protocols could ensure such protocols are followed such that the data under such a rigid sampling, chain of custody, lab protocols, etc., would be 100 percent defensible if required. ............................................................................................................................. Pehaps another way to express this point. When one does PID sampling on contaminated sites containing semi and volatile organic compounds, the PID results are never the basis for soil, water or air contamination, simply an indicator that more quantitative work needs to be done. For example hypothetically when PID sampling would have been done for the excavations down at GP 1 and GP 2 , the PID data would be a very useful tool for on site data including worker protection from vapours. Of course due to confidentiality I cannot speak to specific data or the correlation of test results to soil results, but I can say that any data considered collected with the purpose of a qualitative assessment only is still in fact very useful. ............................................................................................... Take care Alan." ...................................................................................... ...................................... Seven parties either flatly refused to accept professional lab reports from Pacific Rim Labs or simply failed to respond (RMOW, GHD). Lanxess however answered YES to the question asked of them without any bullsh.t references to some items automatically included in professional lab reports plus others. It is possible that Lanxess recognized the value of independent soil samples taken and paid for by citizens while the other seven parties simply wished to show their solidarity with their bed partner, Lanxess Canada. I admit that I've enjoyed this exercise as it has for me and other like minded citizens pointed out the pervasive bias and corruption in all the peripheral parties. While knowing for years/decades that the MOE/MECP and the majority of local councillors are less than honest, it took longer to identify RAC, TAG and the GRCA as fellow travellors (i.e. the more polite term for corrupt). TAG especially has been a painful realization because under Dr. Richard Jackson they started so strong. Downhill afterwards although I know that there are a number of individual members working on behalf of the public interest. They are however caught in a totally controlled by council, impotent committee unless they decide to go "radical" as Dr. Jackson did. By "radical" I simply mean bluntly telling off Lanxess and the MOE/MECP to their faces when they are spouting scientific drivel and or self-serving nonsense. ................................................................................................................................. P.S.....PID above in the quoted portion stands for PhotoIonization Detector which measures volatile gases............... P.S.S. Thank you Lanxess for demonstrating both the loyalty and stupidity of your many partners in pollution

INTENTIONAL OR NOT, LANXESS THROWS ONE INTO TAG, RAC, MECP, WOOLWICH COUNCIL, GHD & RMOW

The first four all said no, hell no to receiving a professional lab analysis from Pacific Rim Labs indicating dioxin/furan contamination in soils east of the Lanxess site. The last two so far have ignored the question sent to them. Then along comes Lanxess Canada who were the last (intentionally) asked if they wanted to receive the complete copy of the lab report. Lanxess (Ramin Ansari) said YES. So....all the fellow corrupts, fellow travellors and overall syncophants rallied around the owner of the still grossly contaminated site to show their support and avoid embarassing them. Did Lanxess fully understand that when they said a loud YES less than a couple of hours after being asked? With friends like Lanxess who needs enemies? .......................................................................................... Following is both Lanxess's answer and my response then to Ramin: ...................................................... .......................................................................... ....................................................................... ................................. Ansari, Ramin To:.................................................... Alan Marshall....................... Cc:.............................. Este, Dwight..................... ................................................ Wed., Oct. 20 at 11:38 a.m................... ................................................ Alan,........................... .................................... Yes, certainly, we’d appreciate getting this and any future reports. Electronic is best, if you could email it. ......................................... Thanks.................................... ......................................... Ramin.......... ........................................... ............................................ ............................................ ........................................... Show original message ............................................... ................................................... .................................................... ................................................... .................................................... Alan Marshall To:................................. Ansari, Ramin.................................... ................................................... Wed., Oct. 20 at 3:27 p.m. ..................................................... ............................................... Ramin: Ding, Ding, Ding that sound you here is Lanxess winning the prize. Well done! Everybody else wimped out of receiving the lab analyses with a variety of silly, irrelevant excuses plus a couple of non-responses. You however have stepped up, said damn the torpedoes and indicated your willingness to accept a copy. ........................................................................................................... Alan Marshall

INHERENTLY/ESSENTIALLY CORRUPT - TAG, RAC, MECP, GRCA, WOOLWICH COUNCIL, RMOW, GHD

NOW SOME PROVISOS, DEFINITIONS AND EXCEPTIONS ........................................................................................................ There are levels of corruption. At the highest most heinous level are straight bag men giving and receiving brown bags full of cash. Cash for services rendered whether legal, illegal, on the line or over the line. At the bottom end are simple fellow travellors who go along to get along. Their lives are made easier if they don't question vigorously or slow down the train too much. Then there is the definition of corruption as "being riddled with errors". An example of this would be self-serving technical reports that are accepted while being riddled with substantive errors that should in fact destroy the entire credibility of said report but do not. These are legion in Elmira, Ontario relative to the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis and alleged "cleanup". ............................................................................................................. Not all members of a corrupt body are themselves corrupt. I would hope that as many as four TAG members are honest, independent thinkers whose decisions are not predetermined for them. It is even possible that there are two others who are honest but are simply keeping their heads down so as to avoid personal or professional difficulties. That said I am afraid that it is crunch time. Either stand up on your own two feet and speak the truth or resign. Maybe do both or understand that disagreeing with Lanxess's program will get you replaced with a more amenable expert. TAG are an intentionally impotent body simply advising a more corrupt and woefully and likely intentionally ignorant body namely RAC. TAG have the knowledge but RAC's politicians and bureaucrats are long embedded with Uniroyal/Lanxess via private deals and agreements whether tacit or explicit. The other problem with TAG is the authority given to the Chair who is a paid appointee/employee? of Woolwich Council supervised by the mayor. Good God! Dr. Richard Jackson was excellent, his replacement is not. ...................................................................................................................................... There are many essentially corrupt bodies that have had good people as members trying to reform them. That rarely if ever works as they were intended to be corrupt in the first place and will greatly resist internal reform by all means. The Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA) was a good example. Both good people and lots of self-serving corrupt ones have served on it. The CCPA later changed their name but were the same bunch jetsetting both corrupt and non-corrupt members around North America to examine various chemical facilities and make gentle suggestions or pat them on the back. A Public Relations scam. ....................................................................................................................... While decades of experience and observation are involved in my observations and opinions of the seven groups above lets also realize that even essentially corrupt bodies do occasionally make good decisions. The Region of Waterloo for example have been leaders in composting, recycling and garbage reduction. They have also utterly failed in properly supervising their police force both internally regarding female officers treatment and externally regarding the treatment of racial minorities. Also keep in mind that good people often work for bad organizations. Employees do not all have infinite employment choices. If they get a good job with one of the above corrupt bodies they likely want to keep it including wanting to be proud of it. ........................................................................................................ Lastly let me leave you with this quote from Saul Bellow: "A GREAT DEAL OF INTELLIGENCE CAN BE INVESTED IN IGNORANCE WHEN THE NEED FOR ILLUSION IS DEEP." The need for illusion is very deep in Waterloo Region especially in Elmira where public figures know that they as individuals and as organizations are vulnerable to civil suits including class actions for their failures, incompetence and negligence in allowing the gross contamination of both the Elmira drinking water aquifers and of the Canagagigue Creek. Ignorance includes refusing to even look at professional lab analyses done by experts in dioxin/furan and PCB analysis simply because the company's experts were not part of the whole process. Corruption as defined in the first paragraph above also includes politicians putting private interests ahead of the public interest.

POLITICAL COLLUSION & PRIVATE CONSULTATION THRIVE - PUBLIC CONSULTATION DOES NOT

GRCA, RMOW & GHD CONSULTANTS HAVE FAILED TO RESPOND TO DATE - GHD HAVE HAD LEAST AMOUNT OF TIME .................................................................................................................. Well it's getting down to the end of guilty parties to send my question to. The question of course is "Would you like to receive the complete copy of the recent soil analyses?" Now I should also add that I have never referred to the owner of the Stroh farm as a "guilty party". Firstly he is not a party but an individual. Secondly while there is literally decades of data and facts condemning the behaviour of Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Laxness; their dealings with their east side neighbour have been much less public. Nevertheless I may yet send my question to Lanxess and possibly one more. We will see. ............................................................................................................. Maybe the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) are just smarter than the other listed parties. Maybe not but they sure are keeping their heads down. So far so too the Region of Waterloo. I do expect some response from GHD but maybe they too are beginning to understand that it could be a no win question. Let me explain. Possibly as many as fifteen local citizens have been in possession of this seven page lab report for many weeks. Not one of those honest souls demanded conditions prior to their receiving the complete report. Yes there have been some questions AFTER RECEIVING it that I have answered as best as possible. ................................................................................................................ This is the nub of the exercise. Would any of the parties involved with the "cleanup" process, step up and flatly state that yes they would like to see soil sample results allegedly taken from a dioxin/DDT contaminated area being ignored by Lanxess/GHD and the Ministry of Environment? Being ignored I might add after years of requests and evidence being presented. This includes formal appeals to TAG from their TAG colleague Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach as well as by me to RAC. While my experiment is still ongoing I believe that I have flushed out the last vestiges of credibility from the likes of RAC and TAG. Not so much as a whisper from any of their individual members even asking me for clarification. Nope nothing but a litany of conditions and hoops and loops from their Chairs that they allegedly want satisfied BEFORE they even dirty their little hands by touching a professional lab report analyzing and finding dioxins/furans in said soil samples. ............................................................................................................ I fully expect that any positive response now received will be a lie. Hell that's what's been done for decades. Why would they change now? Collusion between municpal councils and the polluter, whether tacit or explicit, whether primarily with the Mayor or privately with a group of councillors has been the norm. No one can possibly police private council meetings outside the council chambers. Or private telephone or e-mail conversations. To even suggest transparency is utter bullsh.t. Collusion between Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario Ministry of Environment was rampant in the 1980s. Private meetings on private property kept the public in the dark as the two parties responsible for the destruction of the Elmira water supply and poisoning of Elmira citizens colluded to avoid condemnation and censure. That has never stopped. Public consultation via UPAC and the early CPAC was a sham with Uniroyal friends and willing deal makers always in charge. .......................................................................................................... Fifteen soil samples were properly taken and stored. Two (one composite sample) have been analyzed. There are lots more soil samples to be analyzed and I expect that just like the soil samples taken in the 2017 and 2020 Canagagigue Creek Sediment & Soil Investigations; that the dioxin/furan and DDT results will be all over the map with many well above any and all health based criteria. Lanxess are you ready for that? The east side coverup is but one more blatant public lie designed to benefit guilty private and public parties who shamelessly have caused public health damages whether for face saving purposes or money saving purposes.

YES DOROTHY ALL OUR AUTHORITIES ARE COMPROMISED (CORRUPT?) - GRCA & WOOLWICH COUNCIL

There are varying levels of corruption. As of right now I have approached by e-mail six different groups with exactly ZERO responses actually saying the magic word namely Yes! Yes we would like the complete copy of the recently acquired professional soil sample analyses done by Pacific Rim Labs. There have also been exactly ZERO responses to date saying YES we would appreciate those analyses up front although of course we may well have questions about them afterwards. What there has been is FOUR outright refusals based upon somewhat similar internal requirements which most or all may well have already been satisfied. Of course when the corrupt bodies refuse to even accept and look at the seven page lab report how will they know that? .................................................................................................. The four outright refusals include TAG, RAC, MECP (Environment Ministry) and Woolwich Council. Beyond both stupid and shameful. The remaining two bodies approached are the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) and the Region of Waterloo Council. Now on their behalf I will say that to date the GRCA and RMOW have not responded to the question. The GRCA have had several days and did send an e-mail response to the effect that they were out of the office. (???) The Regional Councillors really have had very little time to respond although my e-mail went to at least a dozen of them and nobody has so much as acknowledged receipt so far. ................................................................................................................... I also sent an e-mail to individual Woolwich Councillors last week and interestingly Scott McMillan responded in the negative on behalf of all of them. This was similar to Sandy Shantz responding in the negative on behalf of all the RAC members and Tiffany to all the TAG members. What a coincidence (not!). While a party whip at the provincial or federal level might be impressed with that solidarity/unanimity; at the local, municipal level it really is seriously perverted. Councillors are elected at the local level to represent the citizens within their wards not to join hands with fellow councillors in order to avoid dealing with difficult issues. The same goes for RAC and TAG. I always refused as a UPAC and CPAC member to be publicly silenced by the Chair or anybody else. I was a citizen first and my loyalty was to the public interest not to an individual or heaven forbid to Woolwich Township manipulators. Sometime soon I may post the letter received from the Qualified Person (name witheld) who advises that all of this similar behaviour refusing lab results by the numerous guilty parties is simply a smokescreen to prevent any but vetted, approved and paid for, loyal to Lanxess experts, from sampling, testing and releasing professional results that Lanxess can misinterpret, minimize or ignore at will. ................................................................................................................. There may be one or two more parties shortly receiving my opportunity to receive lab results. What I am seeing so far is absolutely blatant collusion among the guilty parties. I am also seeing incredible cowardice by individual members refusing to "step out of line". TAG in particular are a terrible disappointment. There are some good members there who need to step up and ask themselves what the hell is going on. Were they recruited initially and advised to sign some form of Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) or has their silence been imposed upon them afterwards? Silence is consent and TAG members have heard the truth from fellow member Sebastian and nothing but lies from Lanxess and friends. Step up and support the truth!

COLLUSION BETWEEN GUILTY PARTIES INCLUDES SMOKESCREENS - MECP REFUSES PROFESSIONAL LAB RESULTS

The question of why they are doing this is a very simple one. PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY. All the guilty parties can honestly say that they do not have any soil samples from in and around the Stroh Drain with dioxin/furan detections. Of course this is only true if they themselves refuse to take and analyse soil samples and if they can refuse to accept citizens' properly taken, stored and analysed soil samples. Jason Rice of the Ministry of Expanded Corporate Pollution (MECP) (O.K. that title is a bit of humour) sent me a long winded list of conditions, terms, bullsh.t, reasonable expectations for soil sampling and analysis etc. Most of them have been met. The fact is very simple: The Ontario Ministry of Environment in collusion with the other guilty parties are throwing up a smokescreen. They are buttressing their and the polluter's monopoly on investigating. ....................................................................................................................... How much collusion do you ask? Sandy Shantz and Scott McMillan together might be able to technically describe the difference between a bunsen burner and a cigarette lighter (on a good day). Despite this both of them referenced scientific requirements of which they don't have a clue. Sandy somewhat hid behind Tiffany whereas Scott went full bore with this:"...how the samples were obtained, were all necessary permissions granted, who obtained them, what was the process, what was the scientific method and controls governing their collection..." blah, blah, blah. Yes Dorothy we as Canadians routinely elect dishonest twits at all political levels. The fact is that most of these "requirements" have been met but the guilty parties are SAYING NO BEFORE THEY SEE THE LAB REPORT. That professional lab report, within itself answers and clarifys many of the normal requirements for soil samples. .............................................................................................................................. So to date we have TAG, RAC and the Ontario MECP begging me NOT TO SEND THEM THE LAB RESULTS. Hoo boy are they both stupid and corrupt? Oh and besides the fact that most normal sampling and analysis conditions have been met is the fact that dioxins are much hardier and more stable in soil then say volatile organic solvents. Those (VOCs) have a very short shelf life because they volatolize into a gas as their name implies. Dioxins, PCBs etc. are hydrophobic and bond tightly with soils and DO NOT DEGRADE well. This is what makes them PERSISTENT Organic Pollutants. Therefore the to date unanalyzed soil samples are viable for a very long time. ............................................................................................. Lastly I have obtained a formal opinion from what the MECP and Lanxess just love namely a Qualified Person. This expert spells out exactly what all the guilty Elmira and area parties are doing hiding behind alleged scientific requirements that they think only they can provide. IT is called THROWING UP A SMOKESCREEN to avoid professional scientific data not provided by themselves and fellow travellors. ........................................................................................................... More corruption exposure is coming.

NOW RAC REFUSE TO ACCEPT SOIL DIOXIN ANALYSES FROM STROH DRAIN AREA

RAC - Remediation Advisory Committee i.e. a bunch of bureaucrats and politicians devoted to the joys of sustaining and maintaining the status quo despite the costs to their own souls and to the health of both the environment and to their fellow human beings. ................................................................................................................ Earlier in the week the Woolwich Council appointed TAG committee flatly refused to accept the complete seven page professional laboratory analyses by a very well known lab who specialize in dioxin/furan analysis. They analyzed two different soil samples, one a composite and one not, and the composite sample actually had higher concentrations of dioxins/furans than the other one. A composite soil sample is one made up from multiple other samples with equal amounts of each mixed together and analyzed as one. The idea is to cover a larger area of ground at less expense. .................................................................................................. This lab (Pacific Rim) is highly reputable and their seven page report answers many of the questions that both TAG and RAC have put forth as excuses not to accept the report. The scientific methodology for analysis is detailed, storage conditions, EPA Reference Method, Chain of Custody etc. The irony is that most of the dishonest idiots demanding this additional information BEFORE they even look at the lab report, don't have a clue what they are talking about. How could they, they are politicians taking orders privately and then mouthing the excuses the MECP, Lanxess and others tell them to. ........................................................................................................ One hand washes the other and each part of the group hides behind the other. It is an incestuous, corrupt process with a purpose. Maintain the decades old Elmira Water Crisis coverup both for the company's and Ministry of Environment's financial gain as well as to minimize the total destruction of all their reputations in the public's eye. ........................................................................................................................ Sandy Shantz as co-Chair of RAC states "Any technical reports should be sent to TAG. I believe Tiffany replied to your request. Feel free to forward them to her for TAG's review if they meet the scientific requirements as she outlined them." Sandy hired Tiffany at $1,000 per meeting. Tiffany does as she is told. So the two bodies appointed by Woolwich Council six years ago ostensibly to assist with the cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers and the Canagagigue Creek both refuse to even receive much less seriously look at a seven page professional report showing soil dioxin contamination where Lanxess & the MECP deny it exists by their refusing to take either their own soil samples or anybody else's. .................................................................................................................. ........................................................... THAT FOLKS IS ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP AND PUBLIC CONSULTATION IN WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP (ELMIRA)

TAG (TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP) REFUSE A COPY OF PROFESSIONAL LAB ANALYSES OF DIOXINS/FURANS IN SOIL AROUND STROH DRAIN

This was done by the TAG Chair, Tiffany Svensson, last Saturday in an e-mail to me. Lest we forget of course, Lanxess and the Ontario Ministry of Environment have refused many times to take soil samples anywhere near the Stroh Drain since I and CPAC (Citizens Public Advisory Committee) found it in 2014. This now proven, by five lines of evidence (soil twice, groundwater, sediments and topographical contours), contaminated area to the immediate east of Uniroyal/Lanxess apparently is a) either a bridge too far for the guilty parties b) a hot potato far too damaging to both Lanxess/MECP's credibility. ............................................................................................................. Tiffany to her credit did attempt an explanation. Her first two sentences are "TAG is interested in any relevant and scientifically defensible analytical data. This means that all analytical results need to be accompanied by documentation that provides the why, where, when, how and who collected the sample(s)." Unstated by Tiffany are the following fictional sentences namely: "Horrible things will occur if I, Tiffany, accept willy nilly any analytical data not provided by bought and paid for, client driven consultants whose loyalty is solely to their well heeled, paying client, Lanxess Canada. These horrible things would include me losing my $1,000 per meeting stipend and amenable TAG members losing their status as members of a professional committee of experts. Woolwich Council as they've done in the past would bounce their butts from the committee in a heartbeat. If that isn't enough then studies have proven that soil samples obtained by untrained, unqualified persons have been known to self explode causing untold catastrophes, damages and injury." .......................................................................................................................... Phew, well I got that out of my system. Obviously I believe that Tiffany is full of it. Yes, after receiving the seven page lab analyses done by a recognized expert in the field (Pacific Rim), I would expect some questions that were not answered in the seven page report. The qualifications however of Pacific Rim would not be one of them. Nor would the concentrations of dioxins/furans found in the soil samples. None of us involved with this project had any doubts that the first attack by the professional liars would be the where and who collected the soil samples. Both the MECP (Min. of Environment) and consultants involved have a jealously guarded monopoly on taking soil samples. This has nothing to do with accuracy of results and everything to do with total control of information. Information is power and if you are going to be involved in a conspiracy to coverup the truth you desperately need that monopoly. ......................................................................................................... Oh and by the way just to state the obvious, no you can't go to your local supermarket for example and order a pound of 2,3,7,8 TCDD (dioxin) and then send it out for analysis. The samples taken were done so after consultation with accredited experts as to all the necessary conditions. TAG's failure to straight up accept the written seven page lab report first and then ask questions and decide what weight to put on that evidence is to their everlasting shame. ................................................................................................................... As I reflected here earlier on it does appear that TAG members are under some sort of communications blackout with stakeholders not vetted and approved by Mayor Shantz and Chair Svensson (& Lanxess). I say this for the benefit of TAG members as I have e-mailed them directly with information and generally they do not respond. I believe that there are other good TAG members on that committee who unfortunately, misguidedly, follow inappropriate orders. If I'm wrong on this then they are all as bad as their two worst members and that is indeed disheartening.

THINGS HEATING UP AGAIN BETWEEN THE PRETEND MAYOR AND I

Below are two very recent e-mails in Reverse Order. Also I just looked at my title above and realized that it could be misinterpreted however the content of the e-mails should make it much clearer. .................................................................................................... ............................................................................................ Sandy: First of all thanks to either Dave Brenneman or Scot McMillan for your response yesterday. My bet is that it was David. Secondly the road to hell is paved with good intentions and frankly I'm pretty skeptical about good intentions in this case. Finally I did not "raise questions", There were three rhetorical questions on the second page which provided examples of corruption to all but the intentionally obtuse. Refusing to honestly and forthrightly discuss these issues with those persons directly involved (i.e. CPAC) is why your and the Township's veracity is being questioned by myself. ............................................................................................................ Lastly your response depicting Varnicolor Chemical as being "history" is strange. 5 1/2 years ago we both attended a Risk Assessment meeting in Council Chambers in which Elmira Pump (new owners of Varnicolor site) were attempting to get a Record of Site Condition (RSC) from the MOE/MECP. Elmira Pump's consultant presented their Risk Assessment showing that shallow contamination is very mild although there were still some chemicals at depth on the site. At that point remediation was ongoing for the last twenty years and I was advised that the MOE/MECP refused the RSC and that pump & treat remediation was continuing. At this point I must expect that it is still continuing which means that 25 years of remediation have not fixed what the Ontario MOE relentlessly claimed was minor shallow contamination not affecting deeper aquifers and Elmira's drinking water. The reports and evidence I have points to that being utter bull. The MOE of course have been very difficult in providing CPAC with all Varnicolor/Elmira Pump hydrogeological reports even after being formally requested to do so by CPAC when they were the Council appointed public representatives (2011-Aug. 2015). ................................................................................................................................. Alan Marshall P.S. Running & hiding from citizen activists merely breeds greater suspicion of corruption. Refusing to provide reports relevant to the public interest (Elmira drinking aquifers) does the same. ............................................................................................ ..................................................................................................... On Friday, October 8, 2021, 12:27:03 p.m. EDT, Sandy Shantz wrote: ............................................................................................................. Thank you for the Varnicolour history. ............................................................................................................ You raise questions about what is and is not corruption. The answer would be made based on a complete look at the facts, not one small piece of the picture. We can each answer the question according to our knowledge of all the data we have, but without knowing intent, corruption is a very subjective charge. .................................................................................................................................. Sandy

MY WRITTEN RESPONSE TO SANDY'S CHALLENGE TO ME AT THE RAC MEETING

From: agmarshall@rogers.com Sent: October 8, 2021 10:56 AM To: Ramin.ansari@lanxess.com; kbelan@regionofwaterloo.ca; lgerber@torstar.ca; lhussain@ontario.ca; jrice@ontario.ca; SShantz@woolwich.ca; SMcMillan@woolwich.ca; dwight.este@lanxess.ca; grca@grandriver.ca; FRedekop@woolwich.ca Subject: copy of last night's RAC Delegation .................................................................................................................. .......................................................................................................... RAC: While my Delegation was likely uncomfortable for you nevertheless most of you held up like troopers. Well done. ................................................................................................................................. ................Sandy requested written "proof" of corruption which is a high standard especially when she thinks she'll be the Judge. ...................................................................................................................................... Lets see: Glen McDonald an MOE/MECP Investigations & Enforcement Branch employee was fired and criminally charged regarding his tipping off Severin Argenton (Varnicolor Chemical) to an impending police/MOE raid.. Without prior discussion or warning those charges were reduced at court to Breach of Trust for which he was convicted. ............................................................................................................................................ Jim Dochstader, MOE employee (Sarnia area) was also charged and convicted for corrupt activities. ...................................................................................................... ........................................................................ Dave Ireland (MOE) was quoted in the K-W Record as stating that Varnicolor Chemical were in full compliance with their Certificate of Approval in 1990. ........................................................................................................................................... Arley McDonald (MOE) publicly stated at a Varnicolor Liason Committee meeting (media present) that there were no buried drums at Varnicolor's Lot 91 site. Myself and Rich Clausi presented colour photographs of buried drums poking out of the ground WITH wooden stakes and MOE flags attached. ........................................................................................................... Gord Robinson (MOE) and his very English MOE sidekick presented MOE photographs to Richard and I "proving" that there was no buried concrete tank immediately beside the just excavated road tanker on the Varnicolor property. In fact one of the MOE officers was in the photograph actually standing on top of the concrete tank and you could see both rebar and broken concrete by his feet. The next dig initiated by Richard, Ted and I of APT removed the concrete tank. ......................................................................................................... This tank and tanker were connected by pipes to an inside floor drain used for illegal dumping to which I testified to the MOE. This was a large scale illegal dumping operation covered up by the Ontario MOE that affected Elmira's drinking water. ........................................................................................................ From 1989 until 2014 UPAC & CPAC allegedly were given all the ground and surface water reports relevant to Uniroyal contamination and migration. However in the spring of 2014 I discovered a flowing drain/creek running parallel to the Uniroyal/Chemtura border on the Stroh property only about ten metres away from the Chemtura property line. This Drain had a pipe at the northern end which runs constantly obviously draining groundwater. Stroh & Lanxess??? ..................................................................................................... Furthermore satellite and aerial photographs show manmade lines running across the Uniroyal/Lanxess site from the north-east over to the south-east Stroh property line just above (north) the Stroh Drain and metal pipe into it. To date there has been no plausible /reasonable explanation given, ................................................................................................................ There are maps from 1983 published in 1985 (Uniroyal Waste History...by Jackman, Smith & Ralston) as well as in 1991 by CH2MHILL (behalf of RMOW) that question the true location of GP-1 (gravel pit 1). Is it corruption Sandy if the Ontario MOE go along with a phony "cleanup" on-site of the alleged GP-1 location in order to deny and avoid an off-site cleanup on the Stroh property where likely the bulk of the overflowing east side pits toxic contents ended up? ............................................................................................................. Is it corruption when immediately after these discoveries are publicly presented to CPAC, Chemtura, MOE, CRA etc. that Chemtura & the MOE begin boycotting those public meetings followed by the new incoming Woolwich Council manufacturing a crisis in order to get rid of CPAC? ............................................................................................................ Is it corruption when both Lanxess & MECP refuse to take soil samples in and around the Stroh Drain for fear of finding what they already know is there? ......................................................................................................................................... The above is just from memory without even doing some looking. Be very careful what you ask for Sandy. .................................................................................................. ............... Alan Marshall member of CPAC & Elmira EH-Team

PUBLICLY CALLING OUT RAC & THE OTHER GUILTY PARTIES

Following is a copy of the written Delegation spoken to RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) last Thursday evening. I bluntly advised that the Elmira cleanup has been handled corruptly. They and others received their written copies yesterday. .................................................................................................... ................................................................... ............................................................Oct. 7, 2021 ................................................ RAC ............................................................................................................. ......................................................................................... I'm here today to give you a little history as well as update regarding the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) which was constructed in 1983. The 1980s were a time of desperate cleanups for Uniroyal and not only because of the Ministry of Environment 1984 Control Order. The day of reckoning was on the horizon and Uniroyal were in the process of consolidating chemical wastes as well as closing some west and east side pits and ponds. They had a visual mess on their south-east corner and it extended to the even lower lying area across the property line onto the Stroh property. In August or September 1983 when the water table was low, excavations began. The ostensible purpose was to drain the swamp. This swampy area has been marked as such by Conestoga Rovers on maps (April 2013 Dwg. C-02 A. Loney) plus the draining of the swampy area was confirmed at a public CPAC meeting by Jeff Merriman of Chemtura. ............................................................................................................ I believe that the Stroh Drain, as incredibly necessary as it was to get rid of the foul contaminated ground and surface water, served other purposes. The Canagagigue Creek when in full flood took a shortcut across the Uniroyal and Stroh properties, gouging and eroding soils as it went. It then flushed and deposited these soils into the Canagagigue Creek where they ended up in sediments, creekbank and floodplain soils to be shared with downstream Old Order Mennonites among others. ........................................................................................................................ Not only did the Stroh Drain lower the water table but with the contents of the excavations all piled on the east side of the Stroh Drain, a major Berm was constructed. To this day that Berm is much higher than the surrounding lands which while still vulnerable to flooding, are less prone to major soil erosion than they were before; as the force of the flooding Canagagigue Creek is deflected southwards away from the low lying area that is the likely repository of dioxins/furans, DDT and more. I expect that this was a negotiated deal between Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario MOE that was then presented to Mr. Earl Stroh as the SDDB was built on his land. The Grand River Conservation Authority have since helpfully provided flood maps of the area showing how the Drain, Ditch and Berm may lessen the force of the flooding creek. .................................................................................................................... Currently I am aware of five separate but overall buttressing pieces of evidence that suggest large scale flow of Uniroyal contamination onto the next door Stroh farm. Firstly is the surficial soil samples showing both dioxins/furans and DDT in excess of soil criteria on the Stroh farm, along the property line with Uniroyal. These soil samples were taken in soil that has been in constant use growing crops during the fifty-one years since most but not all of the overflowing east side ponds were removed from service. Despite tillage, wind erosion and possible crop uptake, they still had DDT and dioxin exceedances. Secondly there has been NDMA discovered in a deep aquifer 240 metres eastwards and cross-gradient by groundwater flow but down gradient by surface water flow. Thirdly we recently were advised that both DDD and dioxins/furans were found in the sediments of the Stroh Drain by Lanxess's consultants, GHD. Three of the four detections exceeded the criteria for dioxins/furans in sediments. Fourthly we have the topographical maps kindly provided by Conestoga Rovers, Ministry of Environment, Region of Waterloo etc. They clearly show that overflowing wastewaters from Uniroyal's east side pits/ponds would readily have ended up in the low lying bowl shaped area on the immediate east side of the north end of the Stroh Drain. ............................................................................................................. Keep in mind that each and every piece of evidence adds to the overall conclusion of toxic contamination on the Stroh property. Also I repeat these various pieces of evidence, whether soil, sediment, groundwater or topographical contours are not in competition with each other. Rather they are supportive of each other. ............................................................................................................................. In regards to soil samples it is common to have very high concentrations greatly in excess of the criteria for dioxins with very nearby soil samples having much lower concentrations. Clearly soil contamination, unlike water contamination, does not tend to mix together as readily. .............................................................................................................. Far too often citizens have been forced to step up to do the job that our authorities inappropriately, improperly and sometimes illegally refuse to do. Varnicolor Chemical was the poster child for Ministry of Environment corruption in Elmira. Local citizens have been forced to step up to fill the research and enforcement chasms knowingly ignored by our various authorities. ...................................................................................................................... There are two very important points left. Despite assurances of full disclosure, the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm were kept secret from UPAC, CPAC and the public for decades by Uniroyal, Crompton, Chemtura and the Ministry of Environment. I was heavily involved with the Uniroyal Public Advisory Committee and CPAC from January 1992 throughout the next twenty-three years. In 2014 I personally discovered the Stroh Drain while on a walkabout looking for shooting locations for Merit Motion Pictures who were doing a Documentary. .............................................................................................................................. Secondly since that time Chemtura, Lanxess, CRA, GHD and the Ontario Ministry of Environment have flatly refused to take any soil samples in and around the Stroh Drain, especially the north end. They have bullfrittered, bafflegabbed, prevaricated and quoting a TAG member been absolutely “snakebitten” each and every time the issue has been raised or suggested. ........................................................................................................ This is unconscionable especially considering that Uniroyal Chemical literally buried toxic wastes such as dioxins, not close to the Stroh property, but by their own maps literally touching the property line. Now with the known separate but supporting pieces of evidence the truth about the Stroh property is clear to honest brokers. Further truth is that Denial and Delay by self-serving parties has ruled the Elmira cleanup since 1989. The truth is that Denial & Delay have intentionally led to migration and Dilution of Uniroyal Chemical's toxic wastes. The truth is that Woolwich Township have fully captured the public consultation process to the point that most opposition are relegated to speaking to you RAC, all of what, once a year? The truth is that Uniroyal and corporate successors have knowingly delayed, hoping that their toxins would leave the site and lessen the extent and costs of any future on-site cleanup. The recent article in the K-W Record advising that the planning process is capable of protecting the public is naive and disingenuous. Dependence on the planning process literally “down the road” simply justifies and excuses further delay and resulting human, livestock and wildlife exposure to Uniroyal toxins. Shame on all the guilty parties over the last 32 years plus and counting. .............................................................................................. .............................. Alan Marshall CPAC & EH-Team member

FIVE MINUTES OF VERBAL DIARREAH AND NO STRAIGHT ANSWER

Well most of the fireworks erupted early as expected although for a slightly different reason than expected. Unsurprisingly Sandy Shantz took offence at my Delegation although I credit her with keeping her mouth closed during my presentation. That at least is a step forward. Afterwards however she was sputtering with anger and demanded written proof of corruption. That seemed odd to me as I had just listed four lines of evidence which while strong individually were overwhelming evidence when taken together of massive flows of contaminated wastewaters from the Uniroyal/Lanxess site over to the Stroh property. I asked her if she would like a response to her comment. Councillor Scot McMillan immediately jumped in claiming that a comment from the Chair is not a question. Anyway it turned out that she wasn't commenting or questioning the four lines of evidence about Stroh contamination but rather her feelings were hurt about my declaration of corruption regarding the Elmira cleanup amongst our authorities over the decades. The only criticism I had of Woolwich Township in my Delegation was their having fully captured the public consultation process which is undeniable. ............................................................................................................ That was followed by the only intelligent question regarding my Delegation although it was asked of Ramin Ansari of Lanxess Canada. To my surprise Susan Bryant pointed out to Ramin that as Alan had stated, there have been exactly zero soil samples taken by Lanxess/GHD in and around the Stroh Drain. She found this odd as ALL the other nearby creeks (Landfill, Bolender, Shirt Factory, Larch's) had been sampled for BOTH sediments and soils yet the Stroh Drain was only sampled for sediments which indeed were present well in excess of criteria. Why weren't soils in and around the Stroh Drain also sampled. Well....Ramin responded with FIVE MINUTES OF VERBAL DIARREAH without ever answering the question. Susan's face told it all as she listened. First was shock, then humour and finally a shake of her head. For anyone present at that meeting who did not understand that Ramin had just blown that question off, then they must be high on drugs, asleep or brain dead. ................................................................................................... The virtual meeting was packed including a couple new MECP folks such as a Lubna Hussain who also advised of a new District Manager by the name of Geoff Burdone (?). Keep in mind that we unwashed, unvetted by the polluter and his friends (Woolwich Twn.) can't ask questions even of clarification so I might have the last name wrong. Again with the use of the slide deck Ramin (Lanxess) monopolized the rest of the meeting patting himself and the company on the back. Other than the first hard question everything else was just a love in. People just sat back and tried to enjoy the show because that's all it was. .................................................................................................... I indeed got some pretty good shots in although I watered down the new soil sampling effort by simply saying the following: "Far too often citizens have been forced to step up to do the job that our authorities inappropriately, improperly and sometimes illegally refuse to do." "Local citizens have ben forced to step up to fill the research and enforcement chasms knowingly ignored by our various authorities." ............................................................................................... Later this morning I will be sending a copy of my Delegation off to the various guilty parties including Sandy. Hmm maybe today if I have the time or tomorrow I will send her some proof of corruption although why? They already know and already have the proof. Probably more than I've got. We'll see.

VIRTUAL VERSUS IN PERSON RAC & TAG MEETINGS

They've been postponed and delayed off and on over the last two years. Their avoidance even in healthy times of real public consultation and input was described during their inception by Woolwich Councillor Pat Merlihan as "cringeworthy" yet to date he appears to have done nothing to fix it. Odd. Tonites meeting is at 5 pm. and apparently all wishing to "attend" this virtual meeting must go through Lisa Schaefer (lschaefer@woolwich.ca). Possibly it is past the arbitrary time limit but good gosh how difficult is it to add one more person to the mix? ............................................................................................................ The overall Agenda isn't all that exciting although my Delegation is likely to raise a few hackles. The good news is that I am right near the start of the meeting. Immediately after me at 3.1 is 4.1 "Lanxess -Overview of key elements of the problem formulation document and next steps". We received that document two mornings ago. It is 551 pages long. That folks is typical "public consultation" in Elmira. Gotta love it! ................................................................................................................. Other items include an "update" on pumping well W9. That significant pumping well is now years late but rest assurred Lanxess are doing their best. HA! RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) are mostly made up of Lanxess, MECP, bureaucrats, politicians and overall cheerleaders, toadies and fellow travellors strongly incentivized to maintain the status quo. ......................................................................................................................... Why do I bother? Well most citizens, CPAC members and knowledgeable people no longer do. That was the intention of the guilty parties after CPAC (2011-Aug.2015) had confronted Lanxess & the MECP, their delays and bullsh.t, and demanded better. Instead the new Woolwich Council swept in in October 2014 and kowtowed, butt kissed and manufactured a crisis blaming CPAC for the Lanxess/MECP boycott of public meetings. The only reason I bother is to speak truth to professional liars and to leave a record of opposition to their self-serving, anti public interest agenda.

READY FOR THE BIG DAY TOMORROW

Good news and bad news. The good news is that to my knowledge, to date no idiot politicians or polluters have attempted to stop me from speaking as a Delegate to RAC tomorrow at 5 pm. Speaking I might add as per the tilted and biased rules and as being on the Agenda (3.1). The bad news is that the powers to be continue to do what they do best which is to deny, deny, deny always followed by delay, delay, delay. I mean afterall it's been thirty-two years since Uniroyal Chemical's wastes were formally discovered in the south wellfield, approximately a mile from the manufacturing facility. The Elmira aquifers are still not drinkable, the Canagagigue Creek is full of dioxins, DDT & metabolytes, PAHs and more. Lastly the former Uniroyal site (now Lanxess) is still grossly contaminated with at best only partial hydraulic containment of contaminated groundwater. ......................................................................................................................... Tomorrow will be three weeks since I announced here in the Advocate that soil samples had been taken on the Stroh property. Furthermore it's been twelve days since I sent the memo/report to TAG members advising them that new soil sample results from the Stroh property had been obtained. Finally it was six days ago that Tiffany was attempting a back door approach to learn details about these soil samples containing dioxins/furans. That back door approach was rebuffed and yet here we are with no response from either the TAG Chair or members asking me for...well anything. Clarification or perhaps a full copy of the lab analyses etc. Also very interestingly there has been zero response from our less than esteemed Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP). Isn't it their mandate to want to know any and all evidence of contamination that has migrated from one grossly contaminated property to another? Apparently either they don't care or they already know but want to keep it as quiet as possible. .......................................................................................................... Where exactly are our allegedly honest, in the public interest, simple servants hiding? Why do they not do their duty and pursue both input from very informed citizens (CPAC & MORE) as well as hard evidence of off-site contamination from Uniroyal Chemical's production of Agent Orange and it's devastating health consequences for so many. Maybe the MOE/MECP want to believe that only Vietnamese and American servicemen & families are horribly, adversely affected by the 2,3,7,8 TCDD (dioxin) in Agent Orange. Maybe they believe that the seriously and sincerely religious downstream Old Order Mennonites have religious immunity to chemical toxins. Or maybe they are simply corrupt.

I GUESS ALL MENNONITES ARE NOT THE SAME

My wife pointed out an article to me in Canadian Mennonite magazine, Vol. 25 No. 20. It was written by Carolyn Regehr and I believe it is the most recent issue as it is discussing protests that occurred only five weeks ago.The protests were against the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline that is currently being built and runs from the Alberta oilsands through Gretna, Manitoba and into Minnesota. Three separate protests took place simultaneously namely at the Notre Dame Toronto Dominion bank in Winnipeg, near the Embridge pumping station in Gretna and online through Zoom. The protests were a show of solidarity with environmentalists in Minnesota who are resisting the expansion of Line 3 as well as with the Anishinaabe people who are also opposing it. Members of Hope Mennonite Church (Winnipeg) organized the protest outside the Toronto Dominion bank. ................................................................................................................ Now compare this with our various Mennonite political and community leaders who are in full support of the non-cleanup of Uniroyal/Lanxess here in Elmira, Ontario. While there is nothing wrong with making money per se, when it involves polluting our environment and making both human beings and wildlife sick it is not acceptable. Then after polluting the air, groundwater and a waterway for miles downstream, these same criminals hide behind local and provincial bureaucrats and politicians to avoid paying the costs of a full and proper cleanup of the mess. ......................................................................................................... As I said "I guess all Mennonites are not the same".

YET ANOTHER UNIROYAL/LANXESS STORY IN THE K-W RECORD

I'm really quite perplexed regarding the latest story by Leah Gerber, titled "Recovery can take years". On the one hand any public distribution of the truth about that site is always good news. Sentences like "The property is contaminated after decades of inappropriate toxic waste disposal ..." and "For decades past owners of the property dumped tens of thousands of gallons of toxic wastes per day from the production of DDT, Agent Orange and other pesticides and herbicides." are truthful and it is very appropriate that that history not be forgotten. For that I thank you Leah Gerber and the Record. .......................................................................................................................... But....Oh my God that article goes beyond hypothetical, I hope. It appears to be talking about a day when the Uniroyal/Lanxess property has been rezoned residential from its current industrial zoning. There is also a brief mention of "...the east side...". Presumably Linda Dickson of TAG is referring to the Stroh property or is she referring to Uniroyal/Lanxess's former waste pits and ponds on the property line between themselves and the Stroh property? In fact after reading the article two or three times I'm not sure if some of the people speaking aren't referring to different properties simultaneously. .............................................................................................................................. The apparent confidence in and reliance upon Woolwich Township's zoning bylaws and Official Plan amendments are naive in the extreme. I have yet to see any written guidance documents, legislation or procedural documents that can not be grossly misinterpreted, undermined and perverted when the will for such exists. Does anybody think that corrupt governments or leaders actually put in print that for example racism, genocide and mass murder are just fine and dandy? Of course not but our world is and always has had its share of megalomaniacs, dictators and tyrants who happily engage in those practices while hiding behind their own laws and practices. .................................................................................................................................. Is this article no more than a glimpse into the future? A future whereby contaminated sites and their toxins will be allowed to leak and migrate off site for decades all the while bravely advising the public not to fear, that at some indefinite time in the future planning principles and practices will save and protect us all? Alleged studies demanding environmental cleanups after the toxins have literally spread for miles in the air, ground and surface water and soils are ridiculous. This is just one more corollary of the theme of externalizing a company's costs onto the taxpayers back. ............................................................................................................ The reality is that that future is here and has been for decades. This article unfortunately could be interpreted as a justification for the non-cleanup of both Uniroyal Chemical's property in Elmira as well as the non-cleanup of the rest of Elmira's air, water and soils. I don't believe that was its intent.

GETTING READY FOR NEXT WEEK'S (Thursday) RAC MEETING

I am scheduled to speak early in this coming Thursday's RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) meeting unless of course the powers that be can orchestrate something wildly perverse such as, lets see, a Chinese kidnapping whereupon I'll be charged with espionage somewhat out of a Michael Connelly book. Or even similar to reality with the "two Michaels" just released from China last week. Seriously speaking while harassment, intimidation and obstruction are the norm I don't expect kidnapping and espionage charges from the Woolwich Township braintrust or their fellow travellors. .................................................................................................................... My Delegation to RAC will advise them of the history of the construction of the Stroh Drain as well as the simultaneous on-site "cleanup" underway prior to the 1989 Ministry of Environment announcement that the south wellfield was contaminated with NDMA, some obscure allegedly never heard of before and never previously tested for, carcinogenic compound. Excavations on the Uniroyal site BEFORE the announcement of the wellfield shutdowns included thousands of buried drums literally immediately beside the Stroh property in RB-1, RB-2, BAE-1, RPE 4 & 5. Some of these buried drums were in very bad condition with some or all of their toxic contents having leaked out. .............................................................................................................................. I will also advise RAC as to some of the evidence that currently exists that indicates serious dioxin/furan, DDT, PAH contamination and more on the Stroh property. The concern is that our authorities have long ago made private deals with each other, with Lanxess Canada and with some of the neighbours. Private deals by their very nature and name do NOT adequately include the public interest. That contaminated creek flows downstream whereby neighbouring farms and farmers are exposed as is livestock and wildlife. ................................................................................................................................... I am not naive. All the guilty parties are unanimous in simply burying as much of the contamination on the Stroh and Martin farms as possible. Literally burying it under commercial and light industrial development as well as under the long awaited for "Elmira By-Pass". Much of the contamination has already flowed off the Uniroyal/Lanxess property over the last fifty years and continues to do so. It should have been cleaned up and removed as much as possible then but was not. Do you think our current politicians and bureaucrats have any wish to expose that coverup? Do you think they want the public to know how they and their predecessors have lied to the public regarding Uniroyal Chemical pollution since the mid 1940s?

HOPELESS? RAC MEETING NEXT THURSDAY

............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................ For the benefit of members of the public with limited computer skills (such as myself), a single left click on the small Agenda page above will make it bigger. Why would I suggest/ask that RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) was hopeless in the title above? Well I received the Agenda and Minutes yesterday, wait for it, from December 12, 2019 AND from December 10, 2020. Now a little clarification. Yes the meetings are ridiculously too few and far between as is the receipt of Minutes TEN MONTHS (Dec.2020 - Oct.2021) after the fact. Perhaps the partial inclusion of the December 12, 2019 RAC information actually is for a good reason. Afterall with all of two meetings in nearly two years who the hell can remember what went on without some paper backup? .................................................................................................................. Now to be clear RAC has far more problems than just the failure to meet regularly. Keep in mind though that the public can not ask questions or speak to TAG at their public meetings. Only RAC permit public Delegations, all of once a year! Really! That is a joke and a farce and a very clear indication that this "public consultation" aspect is all for show. NOBODY of the guilty parties want to hear or care even remotely about what the public thinks. ............................................................................................................................ The proof of that is in the pudding. For over two weeks the fact of new SOIL sample information showing dioxin/furan presence on the Stroh farm has been spoken about here. For one week TAG (Technical Advisory Committee) members and Chair have been in possession of a written memo/report from me describing most (not all) of the evidence of serious contamination of the Stroh property. To date NOTHING from the Ministry of Environment whom you would think would have an interest in soil sample data from the next door neighbour (east side) of the former Uniroyal Chemical who produced and spread dioxin contamination literally for miles from their site. Apparently not. Similarly the memo/report has not generated any e-mails or phone calls from members (except one) and nothing from the TAG Chair. I did report here yesterday that the Chair, Tiffany, has begun back door inquiries trying to find out specifics that would allow her and her colleagues to discredit or undermine the professional soil analyses. ................................................................................................................................. As can be seen on the Agenda page at the start I am addressing RAC as a Delegation (3.1) next Thursday unless the corrupt powers that be cannot stand me or the public speaking formally at a virtual meeting even once a year. "Latest environmental developments..." covers a lot of ground. I expect the usual biased and ignorant behaviour from the RAC Chair (Sandy) who from her position of sublime local environmental ignorance and acute confidence in polluter propaganda, just loves to interrupt me when I have the floor. Even when it's only once a year or less. And that folks is the state of public consulation in Elmira. You may speak freely if you have been vetted beforehand by the polluter and his friends. Otherwise shut up and preferably fuc. off.