Monday, January 31, 2022

LATEST TAG & RAC DATES

Well I doublechecked my calendar and my notes taken during last Thursday's Zoom meeting (TAG) and it turns out that the two new dates I have are both for TAG (Technical Advisory Group) namely February 24 and March 24/22 both at 6:30 pm. Now I'm beginning to think that if I've missed the next RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) meeting then I might just check Woolwich Towmship's website and see if I can find it there. Based on experience and memory I know that RAC have sometimes gone with only one or two meetings in an entire year. This I can assure Sandy and Woolwich Council: Lanxess and the Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP) sincerely thank you for relieving them of the burden of facing justifiably angry and upset local citizens (Elmira & Woolwich not K-W) on a regular (monthly) and ongoing basis. ................................................................................................................... Bluntly put RAC are a waste of chairs and credibility. Those alleged "stakeholders" are mostly a bunch of politicians and bureaucrats going through the motions while carefully not rocking the boat. I would love to know the last time that RAC dug in their heels on any issue whatsoever and insisted that Chemtura/Lanxess do more. Yes sometimes the TAG attendees say good things but get nowhere doing so. Some day Elmira, Ontario will be the poster child for sham public consultation combined with the cheapest, least effective environmental remediation possible.

Saturday, January 29, 2022

THE REST OF THURSDAY EVENING'S TAG MEETING

Well first off TAG member David Hofbauer was back and I believe that is a good thing. As earlier written here, his absence due to a perceived conflict-of-interest was NOT handled properly or transparently by either TAG or Woolwich Council. David's behaviour however was exemplary. ............................................................................................................................ As mentioned yesterday there was some discussion regarding my four DNAPL letters sent to TAG however other documents/e-mails sent them were not mentioned including Nov. 1, 9 & 27, 2021. These discussed soil samples (Pacific Rim) sent to Ramin Ansari of Lanxess, TAG's overall refusal to discuss any of my written Delegations presented and lastly how the guilty parties refusing to voluntarily accept the Pacific Rim lab results does not absolve them from guilt or from their obligations of environmental Due Diligence. Clearly these e-mails about TAG's failure to discuss my written Delegations sent to them fully in compliance with Woolwich Council's shameful, undemocratic rules and procedures have struck a nerve hence their DNAPL discussion. Once is not a pattern however and much more needs to be done. .......................................................................................................................... There was a brief discussion involving temporary losses of hydraulic containment in the Upper Aquifer (UA) sending contaminated Uniroyal/Lanxess groundwater into the Canagagigue Creek. These are of course ongoing over decades as creek levels fluctuate substantially with storms, droughts and normal rainfall. Of course none of this was ever discussed back in the mid 90s when citizens expressed their doubts about hydraulic containment alone being the answer. Linda Dickson explained a number of changes with the new, amended ECA (Environmental Compliance Agreement). These once were called C. of A's (certificates of approval) but an inadequate document by any name still is ineffective. ......................................................................................................................................... We were advised that Stantec will attend the next TAG meeting to discuss the Draft Risk Assessment. That's nice but isn't it just dandy how Lanxess, GHD and the MECP can avoid facing TAG or the public literally for months if not years now if they so choose. Lay that at the feet of an inadequate mayor and a compliant Woolwich Council. Wilson Lau clarifed a number of issues surrounding the Risk Assessment including "uncertainty" issues as well as quantitative versus qualitative approaches in Risk Assessments. The first (quantitative) relies on hard data, sampling results and published literature values. The second relies more on looking at the big picture as in land uses, local population exposures, general toxicity of chemicals discharged etc. A number of TAG members including Sebastian and Wilson favour quantitative approaches although sometimes the data isn't always available. Wilson has previously stated that quantitative approaches are the gold standard and Sebastian suggested that qualitative approaches to Risk Assessment could be either subjective or ambiguous. Linda also suggested that TAG members should be skeptical regarding qualitative analyses. ............................................................................................................................... Not unusual were two discussions that have been discussed in depth literally years and decades ago by previous committees (UPAC/CPAC). These included whether the Elmira Aquifers could be depleted via groundwater pumping used for hydraulic containment and also whether the groundwater from individual pumping wells was treated individually by the various treatment systems. With a citizen sitting muted watching who could easily answer questions that TAG had no idea or history of, time and efforts are wasted. That however was part of the goal back in 2015 when Sandy and friends (Chemtura/MOE) dumped CPAC. Kill the historical knowledge and eliminate much embarassment from the past.

Friday, January 28, 2022

WELL, WELL, WELL - TAG WORTHWHILE ON A FEW FRONTS LAST EVENING

Every now and then a little glimmer of truth and reality pokes through the nonsense, deception and deceit. Last evening was one of those times. What I am about to present to readers I view as good news. Mostly. O.K. here goes. Communication is key to good public consultation which is exactly why we do not have good public consultation in Woolwich. Communication must be a two way street. The public speaks and the parties and other stakeholders listen. Then the parties and other stakeholders speak and the public listens. Simple but the public are absolutely denied the right to speak directly to TAG, Lanxess, GHD, MECP etc. The public can neither tell them anything nor directly ask them questions. Yet something major happened last evening. Lisa Schaefer and Tiffany Svensson spoke to me, pretty directly. ................................................................................................................................... A little background. Generally speaking all the stakeholders pretend that they don't read this Blog. Once several years ago I mentioned to Dwight Este (Chemtura/Lanxess) that Lanxess Germany had visited as per my Statcounter program. He vehemently denied that and admitted that it was Lanxess Canada (i.e. Elmira) that had read my posting. Well last night we had a major breakthrough as Lisa Schaefer (TAG Support Specialist) reminded everybody (especially me) that the Minutes of TAG meetings were put on the Township's website. She even indicated where to find them and the fact that these recent Minutes that she always sends out to TAG (and me) a week before the meeting have actually been on the Woolwich Township website since November! Well! This is shortly after I once again made a big deal here out of how ridiculously slow they are to get to TAG members, the public etc. Do I feel embarassed? Not a bit. This is exactly why communication, face to face, is necessary. There are enough bones of contention already so why not open the door and talk directly to the public, me and CPAC and clear some things up? .................................................................................................................... And it happened again! I posted here about how pathetic TAG's response to me was regarding the four DNAPL letters that I sent them and the fact that DNAPLS were not on last evening's Agenda. Also I might add that any written Delegations that I have sent TAG over the last six and a half years are always ignored. No questions, no comments no nothing and that's what they pretend is public consultation. Well lo and behold if Tiffany (Chair) didn't raise DNAPLS for discussion! She referenced the four letters from two hydrogeologists that I had sent TAG and then asked if there were any comments or thoughts from TAG members. Susan Bryant spoke up and I thought here goes her bullsh.t again about concensus on the issue. Not so. She stated that DNAPL results and efforts were very unsatisfactory many years ago at CPAC. She added that promises were made and information presented that was not followed through upon. Geez I call Mark Bauman Mr. Flip Flop, I may have to call Susan Mrs. Flip Flop. APTE (Susan & Sylvia) sold the farm on DNAPLS in 1993-94 and then Susan & Pat M. again in 2006-2008. What's the matter Susan, have you finally realized that Uniroyal's promises are hollow? Giving them concessions and selling out supporters, based on future promises from Uniroyal and successors is just stupid. Next came Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach who advised his TAG colleagues that the 2011-2015 CPAC found that Chemtura always dismissed DNAPL issues. Jeff Merriman (Chemtura) acknowledged that there were on-site DNAPLS but not off-site DNAPLS. Finally Tiffany chimed in and reminded TAG that Neil Thompson (U. of Waterloo) had mentioned DNAPLS in his Conceptual Site Model (CSM) and how there was a large amount of unaccounted for chlorobenzene in the Municipal Aquifer (drinking water aquifer). Chlorobenzene is but one DNAPL chemical and I'm stretching here but possibly the unaccounted quantity was 1,000 kilograms. That clearly suggests that free phase DNAPL in the subsurface has been slowly dissolving for decades into the groundwater and will continue to do so. Kudos to Tiffany. ................................................................................................................................... Tiffany suggested that DNAPL's need to be put on TAG's radar. Yes they should be! This will of course upset Lanxess and the MECP. Good! What really needs to happen is action as suggested by both Jaimie Connolly (MECP) and Wilf Ruland to remove known areas of on-site DNAPLS whether still free phase or residual DNAPL. ................................................................................................................................... Likely I will finish last night's TAG meeting report in tomorrow's Blog posting.

Thursday, January 27, 2022

THIS EVENING'S TAG MEETING

The virtual meeting starts at 6:30 pm. and can be watched and listened to simply by e-mailing Lisa Schafer at lschaefer@woolwich.ca . Unfortunately Woolwich Township refuse to allow local citizens and residents impacted by the gross pollution at the former Uniroyal Chemical to either ask questions or make comments at these so called public meetings. Even formal verbal Delegations are refused hence intentionally eliminating informed and experienced citizens such as myself and other CPAC (Citizens Public Advisory Committee) members. Afterall Uniroyal/Lanxess have feelings too and none of the partners-in-pollution want to ever offend them or their corrupt "regulator", the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP). ................................................................................................................................ TAG (Technical Advisory Group) clearly are under strict orders never to respond to any written Delegations that are sent them by citizens. That is shameful on several fronts. Firstly if TAG were so allowed they could ask questions either of clarification or for any potential new data and information that they TAG have not received from their masters (mayor Sandy & TAG Chair Tiffany). Secondly TAG could help inform the public by advising citizens, either verbally by phone or in writing by e-mail, when those citizens have either made an error in fact or simply are in the dark as to what is currently going on. NOPE - way too dangerous letting the chosen few intermingle with the riff raff apparently. ................................................................................................................................. I sent TAG members the four incredible DNAPL (dense non aqueous phase liquids) reports last week, written by Wilf Ruland private hydrogeologist and Jaimie Connolly MOE hydrogeologist. Naturally not so much as a peep of thanks from the individual members (i.e. zero of them) and I only got a thank you from the TAG Chair Tiffany after I went fishing for it. Unbelieveable. And Woolwich Township wonder why they are held in such low esteem from volunteers who have literally for decades worked for free on behalf of the community. Ungrateful bastards. ........................................................................................................... Finally those four reports are not on tonite's Agenda. Of course they aren't. They are far too critical of the efforts and lack of effort of Uniroyal/Chemtura and now Lanxess to remove DNAPLS from the sub-surface both on and off the former Uniroyal site. They also must be an embarassment to the Ontario MOE/MECP who also have fallen on their faces with their pathetic, mickey mouse, futile attempts to properly handle the DNAPL problem at Uniroyal/Lanxess. So lets just not put them on the Agenda ever and continue to falsely pretend that they are no longer an issue relevant to groundwater, surface water contamination as well as to the ongoing Risk Assessment of the Canagagigue Creek.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

PROSECUTOR FRASER KELLY IS AN A-HOLE POSSIBLY LOOKING OUT FOR HIS CAREER RATHER THAN LOOKING OUT FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST

HMM I'm not a lawyer and while Canadian Libel laws aren't as bad (i.e. slanted) as they once were, nevertheless do I need to add "in my opinion" to the above title? Hmm I have to think about that a bit. Regardless Fraser Kelly, in my opinion, behaved contrary to the public interest and just plain nastily towards me as indicated in the Waterloo Region Record article of Thursday March 24, 2016, written by Paige Desmond. First of all let me address the claim that "...some charges were improperly laid." Really? And did I ever claim to be either a lawyer or a judge? And does not the Municipal Elections Act (MEA) specifically state that citizens are permitted BY LAW to lay charges against politicians who have contravened the Municpal Election Act? Yes it does. And did not that slippery, slimy politician, Sandy Shantz, admit to a number of violations and contraventions of the Municipal Elections Act, albeit not to all of them. Yes she did. And finally for the benefit of citizens (such as myself) who are not legal experts I might add that these charges are actually laid by a Justice of the Peace! A formal, certified and professionally paid Justice of the Peace (J.P.) takes the "Information" i.e. evidence from a citizen and then the J.P. decides whether or not there is sufficent to lay charges and whether or not the charges are appropriate. Therefore to put it simply the long established, status quo justice system is in charge of EVERYTHING including the laying of charges. Therefore that ".-HOLE" Fraser Kelly needed to make that distinction clearer to both the media and the public. ................................................................................................................. Reporter Paige Desmond very accurately quoted me as follows "If the Crown (F. Kelly) advises that the specific laws broken by Mayor Shantz are minor or trivial then...clearly I missed that part of the (Municipal Elections Act) which specifically stated that the following sections are trivial or minor, therefore merely suggestions to be followed by election candidates, if they feel like it,". .......................................................................................................................... What is the lesson learned by citizens with Mr. Kelly's ridiculous decision? Well firstly the law once again is an ass by allowing its' written words to be unilaterally overruled by an individual. Secondly the Rule of Law is utter bulls.it when clearly big shots and politicians are given free passes from legal enforcement whereas the poor, middle class and ordinary citizens face serious and prolonged legal repercussions from contraventions they have made.

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

THE GREAT ELMIRA COVERUP

Coverup of what exactly? .......................................................................................................... 1) Multiple Sources .......................................................................................................... 2) DNAPL off-site flow ........................................................................................................... 3) LNAPL off-site flow .......................................................................................................... 4) Elmira residents drinking contaminated water for decades ............................................................................................................ 5) NDMA likely from Varnicolor as well ............................................................................................................. 6) Dioxin off-site flow also westwards via DNAPLS towards Yara ............................................................................................................... 7) Political meddling & defamation of active, informed citizens ................................................................................... .................................................................... The above list took me all of ten minutes from memory as well as by using the Google Search Engine to bring up some of my past posts on DNAPLS & Dioxins etc. Very few Elmira or Woolwich citizens know that character assassination, active co-opting of malleable citizens, government interference in order to promote some citizens and lessen influence in others is all part of the "remediation" process. ................................................................................................................... 1) again. Nutrite, Varnicolor Chemical, Uniroyal, multiple in town former landfills & more .......................................................................................................................................... 2) again. 100 feet down by the Elmira Water Tower, Nutrite/Yara property & more .................................................................................................................................... 3) again. Uniroyal and Varnicolor also likely various gas stations around town .................................................................................................................................... 4) again. Possibly as early as the mid 1950s but certainly years/decades before 1989 ....................................................................................................................................... 5) again. Intentional sub-surface dumping of can coating (dimethylamine) products ...................................................................................................................................... 6) again. self-explanatory ............................................................................................................. 7) again. Mostly but not completely behind closed doors. April 9, 2015 Woolwich Minutes of "stakeholders'" meeting ................................................................................................................................................. There is so much more that someday Pat Potter's "Uniroyal trials" might actually take place although it could be renamed the "Elmira political trials".

Monday, January 24, 2022

THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY?

We all know the answer to the question above. It's doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. This of course is exactly what has been going on with the Woolwich Township version of public consultation since 1992. In hindsight I should have gone ballistic and apeshit in 2000 when Pat McLean and sidekick Susan Bryant lied, dissembled and deceived their fellow CPAC members into dropping their independence and allowing Woolwich Township to be in charge of CPAC and public consultation. Yes I resisted as did Dr. Henry Regier and Esther Thur. All three of us knew that the Township could not be trusted. Afterall they had a 55 year history of coddling and kissing Uniroyal Chemical's butt. They were also complicit in Ministry of Environment failures and negligence to protect Elmira and Woolwich citizens from air and water pollition emanating from Uniroyal. Instead just like the MOE they ran interference for the company and used citizens natural respect for authority against them. ........................................................................................................................ Henry knew long before I that Pat McLean (Woolwich councillor) was a pro Mayor Bill Strauss syncophant and a strong believer in the status quo (i.e. appeasing Uniroyal). It was only around 2000 when Susan Bryant hitched her wagon to Pat's, after the blessed departure of Sylvia Berg. I immediately knew that something was wrong with the McLean-Bryant teamwork. It made no sense but I let my faith and confidence in Susan overule the evidence before me. Things had started to go downhill after January 1994 with APTE's incredible rollover on the DNAPL issue. Just one of the early private deals that Susan and Sylvia made behind the backs of both UPAC and APTE. ................................................................................................................ Since 2000 CPAC have been absolutely powerless although Woolwich Council had little need to intervene and meddle with Pat McLean as Chair and keeping CPAC going in the right direction (i.e. mostly circles). Later Woolwich Council's intervention became blatant including the removal of me from CPAC in 2008 because of the wishes of Pat and Susan. Their DNAPL coverup and backroom deals with Uniroyal were beginning to unravel as I kept pushing for the truth on both on-site and off-site DNAPLS (dense non aqueous phase liquids such as chlorobenzene and many more). Of course the red herring sold was regarding the long overdue Ammonia Treatment System. ................................................................................................................... From 2011-Aug. 2015 CPAC had a resurgence as the new mayor (Todd Cowan) and council were not wired into the pro Uniroyal plan yet. That resurgence and strong pressure for less lying and more truth from Uniroyal/Chemtura could not be tolerated by the local powerbrokers and the new mayor in late 2014, Sandy Shantz, was totally in Chemtura's fold. The beginning of the end despite some excellent TAG (Technical Advisory Group) members who simply need some authority and some protection from either career or political interference to do a good job. Uniroyal/Chemtura/Lanxess should never have been in charge of the cleanup and that they have been is why it is so far behind and never going to be a fraction as good as it should have been.

Saturday, January 22, 2022

FORMAL MINUTES FROM OCTOBER, YES THAT'S RIGHT OCTOBER 28/21 RELEASED

I've long complained about the delays between public meetings and when the Minutes of the meeting are released. This yet again is an example of that. Timely Minutes help reinforce important points and issues discussed at public meetings. When you receive the Minutes three months afterwards you end up either forgetting or mistaking what you thought you heard, without a written reference. This is one of the reasons that I post here the day after public RAC and TAG meetings. Even so there can be a badly worded statement or comment or even simply a comment mumbled that we the public can't even ask at TAG and RAC meetings for the speaker to please repeat their last comment as it wasn't clearly heard. That occurred at the October 28/21 TAG meeting and I reported it slightly wrong which I will clarify shortly. ............................................................................................................................. I received these Minutes two days ago and read them yesterday. WOW!!!!!!!!!!! I'll be honest here. They are EXCELLENT! My hat is off to Lisa Schaefer, Support Specialist for RAC & TAG. Her abilities to take and write Minutes have blossomed over the last six or seven years. First of all she has not only captured all the strong, important statements made at that meeting by TAG members that I did but she also via the recordings taken at the time picked up on some that I did not in my October 29 and 30, 2021 postings here. Now I did send an e-mail to Sebastian (TAG) the next day (Oct. 30/21) and tell him how great some of the statements/comments by TAG members were including Susan Bryant, Wilson Lau, Dustin Martin, Linda Dickson etc. ................................................................................................... The error that I mentioned in paragraph one related to TAG member David Hofbauer. I thought that I heard that he had declared a Conflict-of-Interest in relation to his employer, consulting company WSP, being purchased possibly by GHD, consultants to Lanxess. That was incorrect. Now of course if I and the general public could have asked the Chair to please have that comment repeated as we only caught part of it, the error would have been avoided. Now the Minutes state, and I have no reason to doubt them, that in fact WSP had purchased a company called Earthcon early in 2021, who had done work on behalf of GHD and Lanxess. Hence David Hofbauer's refusal to attend TAG since as he was in a conflict-of-interest position. I do think that he took the high road and it's unfortunate that neither Woolwich Council nor the TAG Chair seem capable of Mr. Hofbauer's understanding of conflict-of interest. ............................................................................................... Wilson Lau of TAG states in the Minutes that "Sampling completed in the Stroh Drain has not been very comprehensive. Current unknowns in the Stroh Drain could suggest that there are potential exceedances that could be greater than what we have seen in Reach 4 and the site as a whole. If evidence suggests that, it could be a gap in the risk assessment and will need to be addressed." Susan Bryant and Wilson both commented on the Martin property, due south of the Stroh property. There is a swimming pond near one of the sediment sample points that greatly exceeded the criteria for dioxins/furans. I personally know that a portion of the Stroh Drain gravity flows into the pond as I and another have seen it with our own eyes. Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach stated that we do not know if the 24.4 ppt dioxin reading (criteria is .85 ppt) is a typical reading, a low reading or a high reading within the length of the Stroh Drain. Wilson also suggested that regarding risk assessments, quanitative assessments using empirical data are the gold standard versus qualitative assessments. He further stated that "Stantec (on behalf of GHD) did not provide sufficient rationale or justification on the selection of qualitative/quantitative approaches for risk evaluation of select exposure pathways." Apparently someone (likely Tiffany Svensson?) asked Lanxess for clarification prior to the Minutes being finalized. Lanxess responded by saying that "...a new receptor in Reach 4 [Correction: Reach 3] will be discussed internally. They also claimed that "...detailed justifications to support qualitative assessments will be provided in the HHERA report." HHERA = Human health & Ecological Risk Assessment. Oh well if Lanxess says that they are taking care of things then I'm sure that everything is just dandy. LOL .................................................................................................. Dustin Martin (TAG) supports Wilson Lau's comments about the lack of data for the Stroh Drain and area. This could very well be a data gap in the Risk Assessment (RA). Dustin also questioned the uncertainty analysis in the Draft RA (i.e. Problem Formulation). He feels that TAG should have "...a more fulsome evaluation or explanation of the uncertainty analysis for the entire site, not just the Stroh Drain." Eric Hodgins (Region of Waterloo) also commented about the uncertainty evaluation. "First, a lot of this assessment presumes a continuity and integrity of the existing remedial systems...". "The existing mitigation needs to be maintained..." Secondly the uncertainty analysis "...presumes an absolute reliance by Stantec on the information provided for assuming this is the extent of contamination on the site. They are not reinterpreting the site or second guessing any data because they don't have an understanding of the site." "Stantec is not really in a position to evaluate the uncertainty in the conceptual site model." Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach (TAG & CPAC) agreed that "...there is an entire dependency by Stantec on GHD reporting on the data and CSM and this is a concern." He also advised that contrary to the Draft Risk Assessment that industrial wastes were deposited in the nearby Bolender Park Landfill including wastes from Uniroyal Chemical. ......................................................................................................................................... These Minutes are one of the more powerful and blunt assessments of difficulties and concerns with Lanxess/GHD/MECP's handling of the cleanup of mostly the Canagagigue Creek but also including a mention of a lack of shallow aquifer containment last September allowing contaminated groundwater to discharge into the creek ("Gig"). Kudos to TAG are deserved although delay, delay, delay and all the other gamesmanship by the guilty parties involved will dilute these good efforts as always.

Friday, January 21, 2022

TAG AGENDA FOR NEXT THURSDAY EVENING

Item 4.1 ia MECP review comments (Surface Water) for the ...are you ready ...2019 and 2020 Annual Monitoring Reports (AMR). Now these reports come out usually in the spring the year after the date that they are monitoring as in 2019 AMR would be released perhaps around March 2020 etc. Therefore TAG are receiving a critique of the 2020 AMR nearly a year after it was released and the 2019 Ministry of Environment critique nearly two years after the fact. Underwhelming. ............................................................................................................... Item 4.2.1 mentions a Technical Meeting on Problem Formulation held on December 14, 2021. I wonder how few TAG members actually attended or even were invited to that private meeting? Funny how Woolwich Township from 2011 to Aug. 2015 adamantly refused to allow CPAC to attend private meetings during their tenure. Before and after however it was and is just dandy for so called experts and others by invite to attend lots of private meetings. ........................................................................................................ Item 4.2.2 is the MECP Supplemental Review Comments on the Canagagigue Creek HHERA (Human Health & Ecological Risk Assessment) Problem Formulation. This of course is part of the "process" around the Risk Assessment for the downstream Canagagigue Creek which is allegedly going to pinpoint specific defined areas of contamination severe enough to warrant remediation. These defined areas could be shallow sediments, deep sediments (i.e. bottom of the creek) , creekbank soils or even floodplain soils. This of course is all bogus because sediments are moving constantly both being eroded and deposited throughout the length of the creek. By the time the Risk Assessment is done and alleged remediation begins, half the contamination may very likely have moved yet again. ................................................................................................. Item 4.3 is a discussion of the Lanxess Monthly Progress Reports for November and December 2021. After many years the off-site pumping has increased somewhat albeit barely a small fraction of what Chemtura promised CPAC back in November 2012. Meanwhile on-site groundwater pumping is lagging which very likely means that the increased off-site pumping is drawing greater amounts of contaminated on-site groundwater off-site. ..................................................................................................... All in all it's all about appearances. A bunch of professionals are discussing their environmental concerns while the polluter, friends and MECP (Min. of Environment) talk in theories and platitudes reassurring everybody that the next report or investigation will clarify everything. A year or even decade later little or nothing positive has happened albeit lots more talk, meetings and bullsh.i. Those fully in charge of the alleged "cleanup" are happy and the alleged dirty, little citizens of minimum consequence are kept at bay until they quit or literally die.

Thursday, January 20, 2022

A DIFFICULT POST

Originally UPAC (Uniroyal Public Advisory Committee) was supposed to be a citizens group monitoring the cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers and of the Canagagigue Creek. Of course right from the start it was no such thing with members such as the school board (WRDSB), Chamber of Commerce, Woolwich Township (i.e. two Woolwich Councillors), GRCA, Region of Waterloo, oh and some citizens. Also present as non-voting members were Uniroyal Chemical and the Ministry of Environment (MOE). What a crock! I left UPAC after Rich Clausi and I started the Environmental Hazards Team and Esther Thur also joined us. That was in early January 1994. Six months later APTE also departed from UPAC referring to them as having fallen asleep. In fact they were doing exactly what they had been designed to do which was run interference for Uniroyal and the MOE. I will say that the Region of Waterloo were quite interested and concerned with getting a proper groundwater cleanup. .................................................................................................................... Over the decades UPAC became CPAC twice as in Crompton Public Advisory Committee and then the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee. I actually thought that they were improving after 2000 with a number of informed and knowledgeable citizens. Then Susan and Pat's back door, backroom behaviour became more obvious and less subtle. They were discussing/negotiating privately with the Ontario MOE and then going back to CPAC to rubberstamp what they had concluded with the MOE. Neither Pat nor Susan were remotely qualified or capable on their own or together to do so and this is why all issues were supposed to be presented to CPAC before negotiating/discussing with Crompton/Chemtura and the MOE. ............................................................................................................................................... CPAC from 2011-2015 was by far the best of any citizens group because that's what it was and all issues were discussed and debated together. This of course greatly displeased both Chemtura and the MOE because their free wheeling back room discussions with one or two folks only had became more difficult. Exit CPAC and bring in TAG (Technical Advisory Group). They were a bunch of newbies picked by Sandy Shantz who knew nothing with a couple of other good citizens included (Sebastian, Linda and David H.) Since then Wilson Lau, Dustin Martin and Katharina Richter have been added. The committee now is made up of professional people including a Biologist, a Risk Assessor, a hydrogeologist, a planner and a civil engineer: smart people all of them with literally zero background of the gamesmanship, deception and corruption preceding their presence. ...................................................................................................................................... They are trying hard but if I have a criticism it is that they are too polite, too deferential and too reluctant to call a spade a spade and a company consultant a bullsh.t artist when it is desperately needed. They are being bullshitt.d, bafflegabbed and given the mushroom treatment and in my opinion their employers may very well have advised them never to confront or offend Lanxess, GHD and the Ontario MOE/MECP. That is a crippling handicap for TAG to overcome.

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

WELL MAYBE ON OCCASION A WOOLWICH VOLUNTEER CAN GET SOME LOVE

Overall during the last thirty-two years I've received one hundred "fuc. you"s versus every "thank you" for my strenuous volunteer efforts in Woolwich Township. Most of the FU and equivalents have come from a few Woolwich councillors including Murray Martin (least #), Mark Bauman and Sandy Shantz. I have in kind returned the "love" to Sandy and Mark to the point where Mark thankfully departed politics and Sandy has occasionally squealed and babbled in frustration. There have also been dirty back door FU and equivalents from Uniroyal, Chemtura, Ministry of Environment and those too have been responded to in kind by yours truly. Tit for tat although the issues with the dirty polluters and their alleged regulator also stem from very appropriate and accurate written environmental critiques and reports that I have formally submitted over the decades. It seems that professional liars take strong and informed disagreement very personally. Finally there have been at least three or four every day citizens who have mastered the art of backdoor FU. They literally have spent decades doing their best to undermine both me and my efforts and not without some success as they have had and still have the weight of local politicians behind them. You know who they are and I've named them both here and in my book (Elmira Water Woes: The Triumph of Corruption, Deceit and Citizen Betrayal) currently on Amazon/Kindle. ...................................................................................................................................... Now on the other side of the coin I have received incredible support from many citizens over the decades. APTE members early on were very helpful and supportive. This even included an award from APTE for my DNAPL efforts way back in 1992-93. This award was a Candian Chemical Producers Assoc.(CCPA) ad in a major newspaper & magazine that stated if you had any questions about chlorinated solvents then just ask...Alan Marshall. Yes APTE members removed the "...ask the CCPA..." and put my name in. This was due to my exposing consultant Brian Beatty's questionable behaviour in quoting another hydrogeologist out of context. Multiple APTE members signed the award including some of the later backdoor and backstabbing ones. Secondly I have received incredible support from CPAC members during their 2011-Aug. 2015 tenure. Of course I can't fail to mention Richard Clausi and Dr. Henry Regier. Lets also add Susan Rupert into that mix as well. Finally I have been pleased and fortunate to be involved in a number of documentaries over the decades. ................................................................................................................................. Just yesterday afternoon I am happy to report that I received a very nice e-mail thank you from the TAG Chair, Tiffany Svensson, for my recent laborious efforts in sending TAG members copies of four excellent DNAPL reports written by two different hydrogeologists, one on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Environment. Yes readers should realize that my overall contempt and disrespect for the MOE/MECP does not extend to each and every employee thereof. There are good ones and I have on occasion mentioned the good ones like Bob Hillier, Jaimie Connolly and Cynthia Doughty. I am sure that there are others. Keep in mind that Tiffany was hired by Sandy Shantz and lets see whether Tiffany's very nice and appropriate thank you backfires on her as in no good deed goes unpunished in Woolwich Township.

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

GIVING ENOUGH ROPE TO HANG THEMSELVES?

AHH I'm the eternal optimist! Bet you didn't expect that comment from me. I constantly give suspect behaviour, words and deeds second, third and fourth chances. And then I say it's crunch time. The thing is that we have to remember that my/our timeframes may not match up with others timelines whether or not they are procrastinating, slow, busy, stressed or even hanging on by their fingernails. Hence my earlier comment of "patience grasshopper". In the end there will be no doubt where certain people stand. ..................................................................................................................... So as promised yesterday I have started to Scan and e-mail the four INCREDIBLE DNAPL reports to TAG members including their Chair and "support" person. I am 3/4 finished albeit not without some technical difficulties. Darned if I was able to scan the six to twelve page reports into one single file hence for the first two reports (April 3, 2006-Jaimie's & April 21, 2006-Wilf's) I had to scan each page individually. Bummer. Now I did get some very local technical help early this morning but then when it counted later on I couldn't replicate what I'd been shown. Therefore DNAPL report #3 (May 2, 2008-Jaimie's) also was sent out to the TAG members etc. as individual pages. After I'm done this Blog posting I'm going to try again and I think I may have figured out where I went wrong. We'll see. .............................................................................................................. In my opinion as well as some other current CPAC members, TAG really were never given a chance to succeed. Firstly their members while good people generally, included some of Sandy Shantz's curling buddies simply because she was so desperate for applications after she threw out all of CPAC's properly and timely submitted applications formally requested by Woolwich Township in the local Woolwich Observer newspaper. What a piece of work she is. Currently TAG consist of mostly younger professionals in the environmental field whose employers interact with the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP). That is an obvious conflict-of-interest. Having stated that I will say that there are other very good professional TAG members that I believe are not in that same position. The TAG Chair however is not one of them. It is also my opinion that TAG have been given the "mushroom treatment" from the very beginning. This of course means kept in the dark and covered with sh.t. The young professionals on TAG literally are not old enough to remember the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis. Heck my own children (35 & 37) are far too young to have any direct memories of what happened way back then. They certainly aren't even close to being old enough to have attended and understood ANY of the public meetings in the late 1980's or early 90's. This is exactly what the guilty parties in Elmira have intended. Professional and certified people on TAG without any knowledge of history or past deceit and corruption. Generally they don't even know what data and reports to ask for or what few breakthrough documents there are. ................................................................................................. This is part of the reason I have been trying to supply them directly with some of these reports. The word "directly" refers to past CPAC Chairs (Pat McLean) failing to always pass along important documents she received as Chair. An admirer of Pat's might suggest that she simply wasn't qualified to determine what was and wasn't significant. While they are correct in that regard I seriously doubt that it was ignorance that kept some important documents out of some or all early CPAC members hands including myself (1992-94 & 2000-2008). This is why I do not simply send these documents to the Chair or Support person. Corruption in Woolwich is widespread and prevalent.

Monday, January 17, 2022

"ASSAULT ON TAG" - NAH JUST TEASING CERTAIN CONFUSED FOLKS

What "assault" might I be referring to? Well I suppose there was the teaser of the Pacific Rim dioxin lab results waved in front of their noses which they still haven't requested. Bizarre. Recently I sent TAG a copy of my January 3/2022 Blog post here referring to the fourth DNAPL letter (in a series); this final one written by hydrogeologist Wilf Ruland. I promised them that if they couldn't get copies of the four letters ( April 3, 2006, April 21, 2006, May 2, 2008 and May 15, 2008) written by Wilf and Jaimie Connolly (MOE) then I would send them copies. Now of course all TAG members have had this e-mail from me for two weeks now and once again zero response. Hence I guess I'll just plain send them the four incredible, game changing DNAPL letters. Well game changing as in remediation/cleanup breakthrough in an honest, transparent and forthright process. That we don't have so that may explain why the TAG Chair, Tiffany, and or the TAG members have failed to leap at this opportunity. Again I continue to ask the question: Are TAG members restrained from direct discussion (e-mail/phone etc.) with members of the public? Are they under orders to remain mute and only the Chair Tiffany or corrupt (by my definition) mayor, Sandy Shantz permitted to speak on their behalf? Sure looks that way. ....................................................................................................................................... One more "tease" perhaps. I know transparency is a four letter word to the illiterate and corrupt. TAG however are a committee of Woolwich Council (i.e. beholden to them) and they allegedly are working for and in the public interest. Four and a half years ago a conflict-of-interest scandal was laid at the feet of Woolwich councillors who covered their eyes, ears and noses and proclaimed "I see, hear and smell nothing.". The c. o. i. scandal four and a half years ago was in regards to two members of TAG and here we go again, the TAG Chair and members over the last year have mishandled other allegations of c. o. i. by one of their own. To his credit the TAG member involved has taken his own actions regarding his own c.o.i. which speaks very well of his personal integrity. In fact I suggest that his honest and appropriate behaviour puts the rest of TAG to shame, especially the Chair. One final comment though. Yes there likely is some personal loyalty involved towards this TAG member by his colleagues. While admirable that is still counter productive and potentially worse. Conflict of interest is serious enough that everyone are expected to declare at the start of each meeting that they are not in that position. Some members have lied from the beginning about it and this latest lack of transparency and forthrightness puts the inherent integrity of TAG at risk.

Saturday, January 15, 2022

THE COWARDS HAVE IGNORED/REFUSED A PUBLIC DEBATE FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN TO TWENTY YEARS

For years it was about too many honest and informed citizens ready and willing to confront the company publicly. Just as delay has benefited the guilty parties to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent remediation costs including off-site and downstream flow of contamination; it too has thinned the ranks of strong citizen voices. APTE members (perhaps less Shannon) have been invisible for at least a decade and a half. Esthur Thur has passed on and her opinion gave some of the credit to Uniroyal Chemical for that. Dr. Henry Regier has incredibly defeated the normal ravages of time with the exception of hearing difficulties. Rich Clausi is still healthy and vigorous although along with the last and best CPAC (2011 - Aug. 2015) under the Chairmanship of Dr. Dan Holt has been politically backstabbed and executed by Sandy Shantz and Woolwich Council to their everlasting shame (if they have any). ......................................................................................................... Oh and let's not forget yours truly as well. Back in 2015 when Sandy/Chemtura/MOE were manufacturing their "crisis", CPAC and myself were called bullies among other things. Dr. Henry Regier put the lie to that false allegation when he indicated how many CPAC members, including myself, were senior citizens, hurling both facts and accusations at "big, burly" MOE staff and employees who were mostly in their 40s. Hell this senior citizen was just barely off of his hip replacement (2013) and a shadow of his former physical self. I'm now in my 73rd year and overdue for the other hip replacement. .................................................................................................................... So in a nutshell the cowards and prevaricators, long in control of the cleanup, will never actually engage in a fight until or unless they have absolutely everything in their control. This especially goes for public discussion, consultation, debate etc. Seven years ago they had a new Woolwich Council firmly under their influence and then after twenty-five years of giving lip service to public consultation, they totally sacked it. TAG and RAC are the result and they were all carefully handpicked although they sure screwed up with the first Chair of TAG, namely Dr. Richard Jackson. What a combination of knowledge, experience and backbone he was until his resignation effective December 31, 2016. My opinion is he knew that it was hopeless as all the parties were corrupted. ............................................................................................................................. Here's my prediction. NOW they want a public debate. They'll even try to stack the deck with at least one co-opted citizen in the mix. They might even include a diminished citizen activist who's been hammering them for years although he, CPAC and the general public have been denied the right to either ask questions or offer comment at RAC and TAG meetings since September 2015. Now is the time for the cowards to strike again as they hold all the cards. Filth usually do or as my long departed father used to say "they are either at your heels (in fear) or at your throats (in strength) unlike normal, decent human beings who behave reasonably all the time.

Friday, January 14, 2022

HAWK RIDGE HOMES BACK AGAIN - TO MAKE MONEY WHILE JEOPARDIZING THE HEALTH & LIVES OF CHILDREN

ISN'T CANADA GRAND? WHERE ELSE CAN YOU SO BLATANTLY PUT PROFITS AHEAD OF PEOPLE? ................................................................................................................... Lots of people have died in Elmira, Ontario. Many from natural causes and likely just as many were "assisted" on their journey by the likes of Uniroyal Chemical/Crompton/Chemtura and Lanxess. Yes there have been many other dirty polluters in Elmira including Nutrite, Pro Cast, Varnicolor Chemical, Sulco, Borg, textile industries and other local manufacturers. Yes and MORE! .................................................................................................... I received notice of a Case Management Conference (CMC) by the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). The OLT are the replacement for the poorly thought of OMB or Ontario Municipal Board who had such an enviable record (for developers) and others in favour of making money either on the backs of less well off citizens or by trampling the enjoyment of their residential property which in some instances may have been owned and lived in for more than half a century. Such are the "protections" afforded by our politicians and authorities to every day, honest citizens simply trying to live their lives. .............................................................................................................. The virtual CMC will be held on February 8, 2022 at 10 am. It is being held at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/914098901 . It is a very lengthy Document chock full of rules, terms, conditions such as would choke a horse. The meeting (CMC) is ostensibly for the purpose of determining things like who will be the parties to the hearing, who will be participants, identification of issues, start date of the hearing, hearing of Motions etc. etc. There will also be the possibility of settlement and or mediation on any or all of the issues. ........................................................................................................ Apparently Hawk Ridge Homes are unhappy with both the Region of Waterloo and with Woolwich Township. Woolwich supposedly refused Hawk Ridge's Application for a Zone Change to permit the construction of detached and semi-detached homes in the former apple orchard beside Union St. in Elmira and directly across the road from Uniroyal/Lanxess and Sulco (CCC).The Region of Waterloo are alleged to have failed to make a decision regarding the Proposed Plan of Subdivision. Much ado has been made of peripheral issues including air emissions/odours as well as middle of the night noise from shunting trains on both the Lanxess and Sulco (CCC) properties. For me and other citizens the real issues are life and death. Air emissions and odours are NOT synonomous when we are discussing chemical companies. My concerns are more with Uniroyal/Lanxess than with Sulco (Canada Colours). Uni/Lanxess have and likely continue to have highly toxic compounds on site despite the alleged removal of anhydrous ammonia a few years back. Iso-cyanates, solvents, dioxins and so much more are still on a site with a long and glorious history of spills, fires and explosions. ................................................................................................................................... What an incredibly selfish and stupid idea to put families in harms way and as close as possible to a long and proven irresponsible chemical company so that a developer can make money from those simply trying to put a roof over their heads.

Thursday, January 13, 2022

CHEATING IN SPORTS IS CORRUPTION AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR WHEREAS CHEATING IN POLITICS & ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUPS IS NOT

Just imagine a professional sports tournament where one contestant is backed by all the judges. Of course that would be very risky UNLESS those judges had previously been spoken to by those in charge whether tournament organizers or the league ownership itself. Now simply replace judges with Ministry of Environment and league owners with the provincial government. This is the situation in Ontario and likely in other jurisdictions as well. In sports the masses of knowledgeable fans literally would revolt and take to the streets if the National Hockey League (NHL) pre-rigged their games and enforced the pre-determined winners via harsh refereeing and constant penalties to the designated losing team. Of course the NHL itself would have to be crooked and corrupt if even one single game was too blatantly tilted in favour of one team over another and nothing was officially done to rectify it. ...................................................................................................... Not so with environmental cleanups. It especially helps that the pre-determined losing team are the general public who only get a say in matters once every four years. It also helps that the entire weight of the state (municipal & provincial government) are on the side of the pre-determined winning team (the polluter) because afterall the whole corrupt political system is based upon money, power, influence, politicial donations and favours before, after and during a government's tenure. Yes it is the corporate polluters who wield such influence not the individual taxpayers struggling to make ends meet. ..................................................................................................................... Governments are all about puffery (eg. "world class" standards, enforcement, supervision etc.), deception. weasel words and outright lies. The status quo serves them and their corporate financial backers very well and whether Liberal or Conservatuives it's all about lying to the public mostly constantly. Today's Waterloo Region Record has an article about primarly truck drivers reduced skills and experience resulting in more driver caused accidents although the Ministry of Transport have jumped in with their puffery about "Ontario's commercial licensing system is among the most robust in the entire country" and "only registered providers are allowed to provide Class A (tractor-trailer) training". Typical case of our government defending and insulating corporate bodies from the appropriate wrath and anger of the public who see day in and day out how reduced driver quality, skill and attention are causing mayhem and death on our roads. ........................................................................................................... In Canada, Ontario and Waterloo Region we have long standing failures in all provincial ministries whether health, environment, transportaion, policing, labour, justice etc. This is how revolt and revolution begin. Either government cleans itself up or it will face consequences from an enraged public of whom far too many have sufferred the consequences of shoddy, inadequate monitoring and supervision by our designated authorities whose first priority always seems to be DO NOT EMBARASS the government of the day.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

THOSE WHO IGNORE HISTORY ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT: TAG & RAC AS CONSTITUTED ARE "CRINGEWORTHY"

Bless the Woolwich Observer for correctly understanding the purpose behind mayor Sandy Shantz's lies and deceptions regarding public consultation and the cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers and creek. The Observer published a story on August 9, 2015 titled "Woolwich scraps CPAC, approves new format with less public involvement". While the Observer have unfortunately gotten things muddled from time to time they were right on the mark with their understanding of the intentional nuetering of the watchdog group known as CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee). CPAC members spoke to Council including Dr. Dan Holt, CPAC Chair, who stated that the new protocols will put CPAC "...under the control of the company it is supposed to oversee.". Vivienne Delaney also criticized Council's moves stating that they will do nothing to clean the local drinking water. Graham Chevreau also spoke and stated that the April 9, 2015 alleged "stakeholders' meeting" was a setup and a sham. That meeting which refused significant CPAC attendance then had a pack of people who had not attended public CPAC meetings in years oor even decades criticizing CPAC for alleged behaviours that did not occur. Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach claimed that the negative focus on myself (Alan Marshall) at the April 9/15 meeting was "...a red herring which allows the real culprits to escape closer scrutiny.". Further he stated that much of the coming change appears to us (CPAC) to be about personalities. Specifically, CPAC's association with Mr. Alan Marshall has raised hackles.". Sebastian was partially right in that my knowledge and experience had given CPAC much ammunition with which to demand improvements from Chemtura and the Ontario Ministry of Environment, both of whom talk public consultation while actually finding it reprehensible especially when coming from kniowledgeable and informed local citizens. .......................................................................................................................... Perhaps Cpuncillor Patrick Merlihan summed it up best when he stated "I would still like the feel of this being a citizens' committee," said Merlihan, calling the lack of citizen representation "cringeworthy". ....................................................................................................... All in all this was one of Woolwich Township's finest immoral achievements in a long history "...of corruption, deceit and citizen betrayal".

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

K-W RECORD CONTINUES ENVIRONMENTAL STORIES (WATER)

Well done Waterloo Region (i.e. K-W) Record. Yesterday it was reporter Leah Gerber writing a story about both ground and surface water and the ongoing threats they are under from development, aggregates (i.e. sand & gravel extraction), industrial and pharmeceutical contamination. Today reporter Paige Desmond writes about both climate change and chemical contaminants impacts on fish in our local waterways. The title of her story is "UW studying threats to fish". Associate Professor Paul Craig at the University of Waterloo is studying the effects of human impact on the health of our waterways and biological organisms living in them, particularly fish. Various fish species are, if you will, the canary in the coal mine regarding healthy waterways that affect all life in Waterloo Region including human life. While only about 22% of our drinking water comes from the Grand River nevertheless there are both financial costs as well as health costs involved as the river suffers from human co-existence. ............................................................................................................. Firstly not all contaminants are fully removed by various treatment processes. This is not mentioned in the article however just one example is pharmaceuticals flushed down our sinks and toilets. Our Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) are not designed to remove them fully and as well there are also many industrial chemicals entering our waterways because 1) they are not tested for in the Region's Annual (Water) Reports and hence likely are ignored (NDMA, xylenes, toluene etc.) 2) the already expensive treatment of river water isn't designed to remove everything up to 100% of its' presence in river water. This paragraph is a result of my reading and researching the Region's Annual (Water) reports for many years. ....................................................................................................... Professor Craig is doing good work but keep in mind that the fish, in a sense, are merely a lab substitute for human impacts caused by pollution in our waterways. Also keep in mind that the Record are doing an excellent job in informing citizens that all is not well in our natural environment including groundwater, creeks, streams and rivers. Public knowledge of these failures is necessary long before our politicians will actually take positive steps such as sewage treatment upgrades, better source water protection and better enforcement of our current environmental laws.

Monday, January 10, 2022

REGION TALKING OUT OF BOTH SIDES OF THEIR MOUTHS?

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries an excellent article by Leah Gerber on the front page titled "Disappearing brook trout an early warning signal for water supply". Leah quotes a number of local illuminaries including Art Timmerman (former MNRF), Jack Imhoff (former Trout Unlimited), Chris Bunt (biologist) and Eric Hodgins of the Region of Waterloo. All agree that our ground and surface water quality have become seriously degraded due to development, industrial and aggregate activity and road salt. This degradation includes increased sediment, increased temperature and increased chemical contaminants from industrial solvents to pharmeceuticals in our water. This is hardly a surprise to those of us who have long studied the state of ground and surface water especially here in Waterloo Region. This leads me to my title above. The Region have long promoted primarly groundwater sourced tapwater as being of the highest quality. It is not and could this be the start of the eventual push for a pipline to Lake Erie? While I have confidence in both the author Leah Gerber as well as all interviewed including having personally met Art Timmerman as well as Eric Hodgins over the decades; I suspect that Eric especially has been fighting an on going battle with the pro development, pro big business forces on regional council. Those dinosaurs will favour perpetual assistance and support for all economic activity no matter what consequences literally right up to the last day of humanity on earth as well as blocking and hindering anything they view as left wing, socialist etc. This will continue until or unless citizens smarten up and boot them out of office although they will likely be replaced by younger versions of themselves who will also receive support to get elected from the business community in the never ending quid pro quo game.

Saturday, January 8, 2022

MAN WITH A PLAN (?)

Interesting. I sent out the July 23, 2021 Pacific Rim Lab report to all the stakeholders (less TAG) with most of them (Less Lanxess) previously saying no, heck no, we don't want the da.n report it might scald us just looking at it from a distance. (O.K. there is an example of literary privelege (?) in that none really outright said that "...it might scald us...". However all their refusals/denials were pretty strong along with pretty logically ridiculous thus inspiring me to modestly gild the lily. TAG still technically are dioxinless and Pacific Rim reportless, a situation that is not going to last forever. I have a plan.... .................................................................................................................... Now why would I share that plan here when I know that besides honest supporters reading this Blog there are also dishonest, game players doing so looking for a heads up. Maybe sometimes it's because I want to confuse those twits? Maybe it's for other reasons? I recently as in last Monday sent TAG members an e-mail which included my posting from last Monday titled "Fourth (Last) Incredible DNAPL Report Contradicting Uniroyal/Lanxess/CRA/GHD Positions". This of course was Wilf Ruland's overall excellent DNAPL report dated July 15, 2008 which he sent to CPAC members. Along with so much more Wilf strongly stated that a major goal should be long term improvement of Uniroyal/Chemtura on-site groundwater quality. This he explained meant more on-site source removal of contaminants, specifically both free phase and Residual DNAPL. Now I understand the unfortunate rigidity and inflexibility which can accompany bureaucracys hence delaying timely responses. That said most of us tend to agree that a one or two sentence response confirming receipt of a significant document is a bare minimum requirement showing things like good faith, respect and honesty. Now I admit that I have zero respect for many (most) of the other stakeholders based upon their decades of blatant lying, subtle deception, back stabbing and manipulation. That said however I have often advised that there are good members on TAG but come on folks step up and take back a little control of the process from Sandy and Tiffany. Heck I've even complimented the odd MOE/MECP hydrogeologist when they have been forthright and direct in their reports including Bob Hillier, Jaimie Connelly, Cynthia Doughty etc. ...................................................................................................................... So what is my plan if TAG continue to sTAGnate? What is my plan if TAG refuse to respond to my written, relevant reports to them? Patience grasshopper. You will learn of it.

Friday, January 7, 2022

NEXT TAG MEETING SCHEDULED THIS MONTH

It's very difficult for me to recommend anybody spend their time virtually attending this meeting. Firstly there are a lot of big words and acronyms thrown around with little or no explanation. The meeting is being held on line on Thursday January 27, 2022 at 6:30 pm. Attendance can be arranged through Lisa Schaefer at lschaefer@woolwich.ca and she is quite accomodating and helpful. Secondly the meeting is closed for questions or comments only to those approved by various biased, wilfully uninformed persons who have sucessfully passed approval from Chemtura/Lanxess, the corrupt Ministry of Environment and or (God help us) the electorate in the form of Woolwich Councillors including the likes of dinosaurs such as Murray Martin who was censured/sanctioned? this past fall for obvious bias against citizens in a gravel pit debate (Maryhill). All that said if you attend from a background of technical knowledge of the Uniroyal site you will be able to follow the discussion without difficulty. ..................................................................................................... Another problem will be whether you can stomach everything that you hear. TAG will politely request more sampling/testing and Lanxess will either say no or take it under advisement. Don't misunderstand me here. Many TAG members are trying. Possibly they don't know what little power that they have. Back in mid 2016 Dr. Richard Jackson tried to rally them into activism against Chemtura and the MOE/MECP. The effort was doomed due to all the still new , naive, lacking in confidence TAG members who were plucked by the guilty parties (especially Sandy) from obscurity to step into a role they did not understand. Opposing Chemtura/MECP was way too radical for them at that time. Since then their membership has been expanded to include technical members working in the environmental field and more familiar with the status and power of the guilty parties. Some of these members have experience with Risk Assessments which is likely why they were appointed in the first place. Lanxess/MECP require experienced people on TAG with a prediliction in favour of Risk Assessments. ........................................................................................................................................................... I have never flatly said that all Risk Assessments are dishonest or the work of the devil. They have great potential when in the hands of honest brokers. The problem is that "honest brokers" are an endangered species in Elmira, Ontario to the point where Woolwich Council dinosaurs as previously mentioned would prefer a bounty be put on them. Fear and paranoia of "outsiders" or anyone who has spent less than fifty years in Elmira or who doesn't think exactly like the local Old Boys Club is extensive. This includes the federal government who were involved with the Uniroyal site prior to the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis when they were asked to butt out and did. The last several years (2014-2022) have unleashed a myriad of scandals, election financing errors and rigging, phony appointments to council (Julie-Ann Herteis), mayoral fraud (Todd), Woolwich Township phony "in camera" meetings, Council censorship of Delegates (re: Lanxess) plus a plethora of other coverups from methane to asbestos to dioxins in active farmland. ................................................................................................................................................ Hey TAG meetings may be a crock but they sometimes release a few nuggets of information. Your choice to watch and listen or not.

Thursday, January 6, 2022

SO WHAT GIVES WITH TAG?

TAG - TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP .................................................................................................................. Weeks (months?) later and they are the only stakeholders who allegedly have not received a copy of the July 23, 2021 Dioxin Lab Report from experts in the field, namely Pacific Rim Labs. WTH - (more polite than WTF). Anyhow do they (as in individual members not just the Chair) not understand how bad that makes them look? Seriously folks this whole cleanup and public consultation are based upon appearances and so you'd better get with the program. Literally everybody else but you are now in possession of that expert Lab Report which determined the presence of dioxins on the Stroh property above and beyond the already overwhelming evidence including soils, sediments and deep, upgradient groundwater results with NDMA in it. Dioxins, DDT, NDMA, and so much more as in the whole litany of toxic chemicals released into the natural environment by Uniroyal Chemical from 1942 until at least 1970 are of course downgradient on the Stroh farm (& Martin farm) either by surface flow or groundwater flow. Have you ever wondered exactly how toxic chemicals get into our food? Well this is how as in government negligence and corruption not just permitting pollution but also in assisting to hide it. ......................................................................................................................................... Now of course there are overlaps in TAG membership and attendance with groups to whom I have sent the Pacific Rim Dioxin results. There is Sandy Shantz who co-chairs RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) and who watches/supervises? TAG meetings to ensure citizens stay on the straight and narrow and don't continue (like Sebastian) to ask intelligent and informed questions where thay are not appreciated by Lanxess/MECP/MOE i.e. Stroh (SDDB). Also TAG Chair Tiffany Svensson attends RAC meetings and likely has been offerred the Pacific Rim dioxin results from others beside myself. Oh yes and I have sent those results to Woolwich Council of which Sandy is the mayor. Oddly literally nobody other than Ramin Ansari (Lanxess) appear to have the slightest interest in those results. Almost like they've been told to back off. Nevertheless for an alleged citizens committee to refuse in writing to receive those lab results really is shocking. To date I have ignored frankly quite corrupt requests not to send the Pacific Rim Lab results to the alleged stakeholders (excepting Lanxess who did request them). TAG have benn given an incredible amount of time and leeway. Are they so confident that I will send the lab results to them unbidden that some how to save face they are refusing to change their minds and ask for them? Who knows? Without real, legitimate, face to face, two way discussion and conversation, as public consultation is supposed to be, we may never find out. And they clearly look either afraid or corrupt. Not a good look for an alleged public consultation body.

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

COVID-19 FOREVER?

Sure as heck nobody would print the above title without the question mark! Afterall "Covid-19 Forever" sounds like a rallying cry in favour of the damn virus. You know those who believe in the Apocalypse or end of man/world may someday point at Covid as the beginning of the end. Or not. Personally I do believe than humankind are doomed for the simple reason that the greedy, wealthy and powerful have been in charge since the beginning and they are too self-centred to look several generations ahead as to what we are leaving our grand children and great grandchildren. What we are leaving is an environmental mess including Global Warming and Climate Change. Including it, not just it. There are far too many people on a planet with finite resources such as air, water, food, arable soil, forests etc. Then just to make sure that we fully appreciate the pickle we have put ourselves in, author Gwynn Dyer advises in today's Waterloo Region Record that nuclear winter is back on the table. ................................................................................................................. As the earth's resources are depleted and millions/billions are starving do you not think that those remaining, especially those with nuclear arms, won't take action if not for their citizens then more likely to protect their own priveled ass.s? Gwynn Dyer suggests that the big nations understand what happenes if they let fly their immense nuclear arsenals upon the earth (nuclear winter) but smaller nations, specifically Pakistan and India, both nuclear armed and with a long history of war and antagonism towards each other, are quite likely to do the deed. Then it won't be a longterm nuclear winter for the world but more likely a 1-15 year cooling off of temperatures negatively affecting world food production. In other words exacerbating the already ongoing food shortages. ............................................................................................................. Humanity have rallied together in the past to step up and avoid horrid, world wide consequences such as the Second World War when Britain & allies, the United States and Russia all worked together to defeat a meglamaniac led Germany. Unfortunately within days of that success Russia under Stalin was involved in expansion of influence and power to the detriment of humanbeings in eastern Europe. Lastly to firmly cement my skepticism let me suggest this. All countries do not have the cream rise to the top. That is a self-serving myth put forth by power brokers everywhere. It is the selfish, scheming manipulaters aided and abetted by the wealthy and powerful to do their bidding. And here is the rub. We the general public are too lazy to pay attention and inform ourselves. We are too busy grabbing and accumulating what little financial security we can in a world that most rewards brown nosers, suckups and syncophants. In other words those willing to sell their souls to serve the wealthy and powerful will have an easier time of it. That's the insidious nature of power and wealth in very few hands. Almost everybody else will do whatever it takes to have those "elites" shine their favour and munificence down upon the less fortunate. Happy New Year folks.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

CONSTANTLY CHIPPING AWAY AT PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY & PROFESSIONAL LIARS

After posting yesterday's description, quotes and frankly excellent data here (May 15, 2008 DNAPL report to CPAC by Wilf Ruland), I decided to share the wealth with TAG members. Or at least with the majority of them. There is one I do not send anything to for a couple of reasons. One she is a backstabbing, self-aggrandizing, manipulative, lying...so and so. Secondly she and her woefully uninformed sidekick, Pat Mclean, thought that it was just dandy to censor which data and information that came to the CPAC Chair (Pat) would then be sent on to CPAC members (approx. 2000-2010) as well as to other stakeholders whom Pat, Susan and that asshat Wilf didn't approve of. Yes this is the same hypocrite and worse Wilf who wrote the wonderful May 15, 2008 DNAPL report after I was off of CPAC. If I had known that at the time he and they would have been called out much louder for their backdoor lying and manipulation to remove me and especially my DNAPL position from CPAC. They knew that any remaining CPAC members could be managed regarding the latest DNAPL positions and revelations from Jaimie Connolly and Wilf (Ruland). ................................................................................................................... There are only two TAG members with local experience and knowledge prior to their September 2015 TAG appointments. One of them is described above as a "...backstabbing, self-aggrandizing, manipulative..." You know who I mean. She has shown a ruthless, cowardly, professional capacity to lie and deceive to all around her. Yes she has personally profited by this behaviour in a number of ways. The other, Sebastian, is an honest, hardworking, straight shooting individual who can barely fathom the depth of scheming, deceiving and lying that some human beings are capable of. He is the only experienced individual on TAG looking out for the public interest and to date his fellow TAG members while mostly polite and respectful are not supporting his positions. Let me be clear here. There are other honest and experienced in their fields and careers TAG members but as stated earlier they have zero Elmira, Uniroyal/Lanxess experience prior to 2015. ............................................................................................................... There are others on TAG who are not trustworthy. They are motivated by what is good for them and their careers. Chemtura/Lanxess realized that ordinary citizens while easily fooled on technical matters outside their professional training and experience nevertheless can learn and grow and at that point may not be so easily managed as "professionals" brought in and somewhat compelled by their employers to at least go through the motions and play ball. This does not work for all professionals and certainly Dr. Richard Jackson (the first TAG Chair) immediately saw the lay of the land and stepped hard on Chemtura, Conestoga Rovers and the Ontario Ministry of Environment. As suddenly as he arrived , he was gone (i.e. September 2015 - December 2016). I would love to know the details and specifics of his leaving but what is clear is his contempt and horror at what had passed as cleanup and remediation here in Elmira, Ontario. I gave the new TAG Chair literally a few years to show her mettle but when push came to shove she has rolled over and shown her loyalty to the corrupt status quo. Despite my disappointmernt in TAG overall I realize that that was to be expected as they were never initiated to actually promote public consultation or to get the best possible cleanup of the aquifers, soils and surface waters (Canagagigue Creek). They are their exactly for the same reason as the first body UPAC (Uniroyal Public Advisory Committee) and the following CPAC which is to give that appearance only. Yes the current TAG has dug in their feet insisting on more testing, sampling and other improvements but when push comes to shove they will do as they are told or they will be preemptively removed. As professionals they are less naive and know that that is true despite the public interest being trashed yet again.

Monday, January 3, 2022

FOURTH (LAST) INCREDIBLE DNAPL REPORT CONTRADICTING UNIROYAL/LANXESS/CRA/GHD POSITION'S

This report (May 15, 2008) is done by Wilf Ruland who finally did good work on behalf of the public with his two DNAPL reports/letters to CPAC in support of Jaimie Connolly's (M.O.E.) two reports of April 3, 2006 and May 2, 2008. All four of these reports spread over two years (2006-2008) undermine and effectively nuetralize Chemtura and Lanxess's self-serving position that there was a concensus on the DNAPL issue either then or since. Perhaps multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations define "concensus" as no parties or stakeholders either suing their ass.s or charging them criminally for their negligence and misbehaviour. Of course it also helps our world class polluter (Uniroyal/Lanxess) when essential reports either go MIA (missing in action) or are quietly not distributed to all stakeholders as CPAC (2011-2015) discovered with these four reports. Susan Bryant publicly suggested at one of those CPAC (2011-2015) public meetings that I did not receive those crucially important letters because I did not have e-mail between 2006 and 2008. Apparently fax, phone or public mail simply weren't high enough tech for Susan and her buddy, then CPAC Chair, Pat McLean. ..................................................................................................................... Wilf suggests that a series of maps showing aquitard (i.e. impermeable or low permeabilty soils such as clays, silts etc.) surface contours and thickness with locations of known "windows) needs to be completed. "Windows" refers to high permeabilty openings through the aquitard allowing contaminants ready access to deeper zones. He also flat out states that Chemtura needs to make a commitment to improve on-site groundwater quality via remediation of likely pure phase DNAPLS and LNAPLS with measures to remove or nuetralize these contaminant sources. THIS IS HUGE & A LONG OVERDUE STATEMENT DEMANDING MORE ON-SITE SOURCE REMOVAL OF DNAPLS & LNAPLS !!!! ................................................................................................................................. Wilf appears to me to have missed the boat regarding further investigation at RPW-5. Is this some form of quid pro quo with Chemtura? Allegedly he did not find any MOE recommendations. Is he not including Jaimie's advice into the MOE's recommendations? Wilf does want excavation of berms between RPW-6, 7 & 8 where these berms are shown to contain hot spots of soil contamination. This is VERY IMPORTANT AS WELL! Wilf suggests that "directional drilling techniques to install horizontal purge wells" in and around TPW-2 be completed in contradiction to CRA's recommendation of only continued routine groundwater monitoring. In the M-2 area (south-west) Wilf suggests more investigation looking for additional drums in the M-2 area as well as paving or sealing the surface of M-2 to stop ongoing water infiltration into the area. Regarding RPE-2 and RPE-3 (east side) Wilf mentions more groundwater sampling including for PHC (petroleum hydrocarbons) which Jeff Merriman (Chemtura) specifically misled me and CPAC about their presence. ............................................................................................................................................... Wilf on page 4 (10) recommends "...a major excavation" to eliminate DNAPL hot spots downgradient of RPE-5 in the vicinity of OW42-4 "...with every effort being given to trace and eliminate the contamination all the way back to the source." WOW !!! Wilf further states that after that is completed that the following year an excavation be undertaken "...to eliminate the DNAPL hot spot downgradient of RPE-4 in the vicinity of OW40-6". WOW AGAIN !!! ................................................................................................................. On page 5 (11) Wilf suggests "...installing a shallow groundwater cut-off trench ..." to intercept LNAPL and other contaminants on the downgradient side of the Main Tank Farm. He also repeats his concerns with "...eliminating the downward flow from the MU (municipal upper) to the ML (municipal lower) aquifer and possibly from there into the bedrock aquifer in the west part of the site near well MOE1." On page 6 he would also like to see "Modern and innovative remediation techniques..." considered for the Uniroyal Chemical site with suggestions included. Finally Wilf advises that there are ongoing flows of contaminated groundwater from the west part of the Chemtura property causing significant off-site groundwater contamination of the ML and bedrock aquifers near well MOE1. ............................................................................................................ THIS IS A BALLSY, STRONG REPORT LONG OVERDUE!!!! WHETHER THE CAUSE IS JAIMIE CONNOLLY'S APRIL 3, 2006 and MAY 2, 2008 DNAPL REPORTS OR NOT; THESE KINDS OF BLUNT ASSESSMENTS OF UNIROYAL/CRA etc. FAILURES AND MISDIRECTION HAVE BEEN FAR TOO INFREQUENT AND TOO FAR APART !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!