SUSAN KOSWAN"S EXCELLENT RECORD OPINION PIECE

Last week the Waterloo Region Record published Ms. Koswan's Opinion piece titled "Region's eco heroes deserving of a salute". She spoke to the environmental volunteers who have stepped forward regarding Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZO), housing projects and gravel pits. She also mentions the Uniroyal Chemical site in Elmira and their current owner, Lanxess Canada. I found her comments regarding the Draft Risk Assessment for the Canagagigue Creek to be on the money. Her description of the Old Order Mennonites living alongside and downstream of the creek was very specific including exposures sufferred by both adults and children. She also states regarding them "Some report illnesses and conditions that are strongly associated with chronic chemical exposure, but have no definitive answers." I suggest to you that our authorities know very well what those illnesses and conditions are but have always hidden behind privacy concerns in order to avoid acknowledging and properly addressing them. Afterall the bulk of the chemical discharges ceased approximately fifty years ago and yet we are still talking about NOT cleaning up the bulk of the creek's contaminated soils and sediments. ........................................................................................................................ There is one fly in the ointment of this overall excellent article. Ms. Koswan obviously is getting her information from a single source. That source certainly has been a strong advocate for cleanup in the Canagagigue Creek for a very long time. Unfortunately she has inappropriately played fast and loose both politically and personally with her local environmental colleagues along the way. Literally selling out and backstabbing colleagues she has viewed as competition is never the way to improve environmental cleanups involving recalcitrant polluters. Short term gain while undermining friends, colleagues and supprters does not improve environmental performance of any of the parties. This is sadly reflected in the failure to achieve drinking water standards in the Elmira Aquifers thirty-three years after the Ministry of Environment suddenly "discovered" that they were contaminated with NDMA. .............................................................................................................. Ms. Koswan has suggested that "...the current owner, Lanxess, seems to be fulfilling its mandate on the property itself-including the aquifers below." First of all there is a very limited "mandate" to do anything on their grossly contaminated site hence they have done very little to actually remove hundreds of tonnes of remaining contaminated soils and chemical wastes. With Ontario Ministry of Environment approval the company has nothing more than hydraulic containment (pump & treat technology) preventing on site massive leakage of contaminants. Once the on-site pumps stop pumping the contaminated groundwater, the off-site (rest of Elmira Aquifers) will be grossly recontaminated with a myriad of solvents, pesticides, PHCs, PAHs etc. etc. The claim of aquifer cleanup is simply to give Ms. Koswan's source a victory to hang her hat on. Current estimates for "sucessful" pump and treat cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers has been moved back to the 2050s or 60s or never. All of which will be negated once the on-site hydraulic containment of groundwater is interrupted. ............................................................................................................................................. The bottom line is that it is now admitted by all parties that the Elmira aquifers will not be cleaned up by the mandated 2028 or possibly ever. That is a failure. Lanxess Canada have declared that the human health risks downstream of their plant are "acceptable". In other words once again world class polluters (with political assistance) are claiming victories from the smoking ruins of their failed and minimal cleanups.