The theory here in Elmira, Ontario was to hydraulically isolate the grossly contaminated Uniroyal Chemical site from the rest of the Elmira Aquifers. According to those who have made a small fortune in consulting fees over the last thirty-five years plus; they were successful. Of course both they, their clients and the Ontario Min. of Environment (MECP) are professional truth stretchers who have been caught over and over again gilding the lily and interpreting all data in the most flexible manner helpful to their cause.
Once the disgusting mess under the Uniroyal site, in places close to a hundred feet deep, was hydraulically contained allegedly preventing it from migrating off-site in the various groundwater regimes (UA, ML, MU, BR etc.) then off-site pump & treat (i.e. hydraulic containment would begin. Once again all those guilty parties including the political ones praised and raved about the efficacy of the various pumping wells for the various impacted aquifers . They praised their efforts and results for twenty-five long years (1991-2016) before they finally bailed and admitted they couldn't do it by 2028 as promised and mandated.
Citizens including myself suggested various times, locations and methods of source removal in addition to pump & treat. Most were dismissed out of hand as unnecessary. This source removal would have made a major difference both on and off site. No go and the MECP backed the company all the way. So the question is : Is the remediation failure in Elmira solely the result of a pig headed, self-serving polluter fully in charge of the cleanup with only token oversight by the MECP and or by the various deferential, partially co-opted public consultation bodies or is there more? Is the cleanup simply impossible ?
Every year Uniroyal and successors brag about how many kilograms of NDMA and chlorobenzene that they have extracted from the Elmira Aquifers. Basically it's been way too little, way too late. But...has it all been for nought? If I truly believed that the Elmira Aquifers EVER were completely isolated and protected from further migration of Uniroyal contaminants, then I might be a little optimistic. The problem is I believe every aquifer both on and off site has continued to leak/migrate from day one. I believe that those responsible know full well that the more that migrates off-site the less that they have to remove by pump & treat.
We the public have been lied to from the very beginning and that lying includes the polluters, their fellow travellors and our authorities who simply want to be able to claim a successful cleanup regardless of the facts. How can we ever trust their word again on anything? Now these politicians want to use the remediation failure as ammunition for a multi billion dollar pipeline to Lake Erie. We the citizens work so that these parasites can spend our tax money on their legacy projects versus proper housing, jobs, climate change, health care etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment