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.