PUMP & TREAT i.e. PUMP & DUMP I.E. HYDRAULIC CONTAINMENT

 

The first problem is that Pump & Treat is often used instead of Source Removal such as the obvious excavation of subsurface toxic wastes. Excavation is very expensive up front as the heavy equipment needs to be mobilized and it uses lots of fossil fuels to operate. Then there is the tricky question of what to do with the tonnes of contaminated soils after they've been removed from the ground.  That said excavation ends up with cleaner soil and groundwater decades faster than Pump & Treat ever will. 

Pump & Treat has been referred to as the least expensive, least effective form of remediation. That sure seems the case here in Elmira, Ontario. There are many other forms of Source Removal such as ISCO, encapsulation, thermal destruction, biodegradation, introduction of sub surface steam to thin contaminants and allow them to be pumped out and many more.

We have also learned from experience that pumping wells running 24/7 have all kinds of maintenance problems and breakdowns. In fact if we are to believe Uniroyal Chemical and their corporate successors it seems nearly impossible to keep multiple wells running simultaneously for any length of time. There are also electrical shutdowns as well as all kinds of treatment equipment breakdowns and never ending maintenance. Finally there is what I view as a huge drawback here. No matter how much NDMA, chlorobenzene plus dozens of other chemical compounds are removed from our aquifers it can all be for naught if either the on-site Pump & Treat fails or if the owners abandon the site.  Once that happens the unremediated masses of contamination below the Uniroyal site just start flowing en masse once again and recontaminate the Elmira aquifers. Basically thirty years of half ass*d pump & treat figuratively goes down the drain.

There are major known areas of contamination on and off the Uniroyal site that could have and should have been remediated decades ago. That would have resulted in at least some permanent improvement instead of where we sit now hoping not to have to start over after thirty-five years of much more being said than being done. Our local and provincial politicians let the polluter off the hook and we the public as usual have paid the health price, the financial price through taxpayer contributions and heaven forbid much more of the same if the current owner decides to depart.