It is my understanding that Uniroyal and successors have been using them for some time. Various contractors and other suppliers with access to the site in Elmira are required to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Now this I can understand for example in regards to company trade secrets. Why would Uniroyal or Lanxess Canada hire an outside contractor to do work for them, anything from woodworking/construction to plumbers/steamfitters, if they felt that an industrial spy might sneak in? Clearly there may well be a legitimate reason for an NDA if Uniroyal/Lanxess were concerned about proprietary chemical information being discovered and sold to competitors.
However proprietary data is one thing whereas illegal, immoral or improper behaviour contrary to the public interest is something entirely different. Blatant environmental illegalities or misbehaviour should never be part of a NDA. If a contractor for example witnesses a spill into the Creek or even a spill onto the ground they must advise the appropriate authorities. Similarly outside persons viewing either current or the results of past chemical dumping must report it. How many private individuals much less government employees (GRCA, MNR, MECP) have spotted problematic environmental issues and said nothing? How did the very existence of the Stroh Drain (SDDB) running parallel for a couple of hundred yards immediately beside the Uniroyal/Lanxess property go undiscovered by the public for so long? That was a huge public interest matter concerning spillage, leaks, and likely diverted chemical wastes and groundwater flowing off-site. There is a comment from two days ago (Sat.) here in this Blog suggesting past cooperation between Stroh and Uniroyal Chemical.
This cooperation may have gone far beyond construction of the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm as well as payments for crop (vegetative) distress along the eastern property line between Uniroyal and the Stroh farm. Were and are self-serving NDAs causing damage to the public interest including the Stroh's nearest neighbours (Martin)?
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