"Joe". Who is this again? Oh right he works full time for a consulting firm by the name of WSP who currently have some contractual obligations to Lanxess Canada. These contractual obligations are to use either Joe's or WSP's credentials in order to publicly gain support for the current non-cleanup of either the Uniroyal Chemical/Lanxess site in Elmira or of the downstream Canagagigue Creek which they have also polluted.
1) There are excellent plans and ideas occasionally used to address non-existent problems. 2) There are also excellent plans and ideas used to address existent problems which regardless do not work. 3) Then there are excellent plans and ideas used to address the symptoms of existent problems which either do or do not succeed. I would put hydraulic containment known as pump & treat technology in the category of both 3) namely plans and ideas used to address the symptoms of existent problems which have both succeeded somewhat AND have failed big time.
How can this be? Well groundwater concentrations of specific contaminants in excess of the Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS) are the symptoms of a long history of dumping toxic wastes both on site, in unlined ponds, later in lined ponds as well as both directly and indirectly into the Canagagigue Creek. I emphasize that the accompanying groundwater concentrations from toxic waste dumping, with or without government approval, are merely one of the symptoms of this immoral, unethical and only sometimes illegal behaviour.
I also emphasize that Lanxess/GHD "scoping" of perhaps one hundred different contaminants in the Elmira Aquifers down to two (chlorobenzene, NDMA), courtesy of Uniroyal Chemical, is merely an artifice to assist the polluter not the environment. This is also true for the "scoping" done in the Creek soils and sediments which has reduced hundreds of contaminants down to two as well, albeit DDT and dioxins/furans.
So if groundwater, soil and sediment concentrations off-site are symptoms then what exactly is the problem? The problem is the refusal by our authorities to acknowledge the severe environmental and human damage done in the past, present and future from on-site toxic chemicals that have not been either nuetralized, removed or remediated. Many years ago Dr. Gail Krantzberg of McMaster University spoke at a public CPAC meeting and her prognosis was grim. Eventually over time everything dumped, spilled, leaked or buried on the Uniroyal property in Elmira would migrate off site whether by evaporation, wind and dust, ground or surface water, soil vapours or other mechanisms physical or chemical.
The sometimes claims of complete hydraulic containment are a fantasy. Admissions of "minor" groundwater discharges to either the Creek or to the off-site Elmira Aquifers are understated. Yes part of the reason for the failure to reduce NDMA, chlorobenzene and other less carefully monitored contaminants to drinking water standards is due to years/decades of failing to meet the companies own pumping criteria and recommendations. Other reasons include leakage from the former Uniroyal site likely in all aquifers which of course has exacerbated contaminants adhering to soils in the aquitards and then slowly diffusing back into the aquifers as the groundwater concentrations decrease after decades of even sporadic pumping. A lack of source removal on-site as well as source denial, particularly DNAPLS, both on and off site have further made success unlikely.
So Joe, friends and fellow travellors feel free to keep pumping, stop pumping or do whatever you want as you have for decades but be sure to wait until all your local, citizen opposition are either dead or seriously enfeebled before you declare victory. New toothless, paper tiger Control Orders, ECAs or other MOE/MECP documents won't be any more effective than they have been in the past. Paperwork only rarely can replace shovel work.
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