Smoke and mirrors combined with credentialed "experts" and buttressed with provincial, regional and municipal politicians all nodding in unison. What will it take to re-contaminate the Elmira Aquifers to the concentrations they were at thirty some years ago? How soon does the power have to be off to allow groundwater gradients to return to their original flowpaths? How much more reduced pumping on-site will it take for even diehard Lanxess enthusiasts to admit to off-site leakage? Has the long ago increased off-site pumping in conjunction with reduced on-site pumping tipped the balance such that off-site leakage has been ongoing for some time now?
Then of course there is even a worse scenario. What if the company simply walks away without notice or fanfare? Is the MECP competent enough to step in and take over immediately? Do they have personnel trained for a 24/7 water treatment operation? Would they even attempt it? Has the MECP the budget much less the expertise necessary to run the shallow aquifer system (UACS), the on-site Municipal Aquifer system and the off-site numerous pumping wells in the Municpal Upper and Lower Aquifers?
The answer to most of these questions is negative or highly unlikely. What the MECP have mastered is puffery and bulls*it not actually accomplishing anything. They and the politicians at all levels will most likely deny, deny and deny some more. They will reassure the public that everything is under control. They will "manage" the crisis, they most certainly will not solve it or fix it. They will hide behind the fact that Elmira's drinking water now comes from highly treated Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge wells and the Grand River hence is allegedly safe. They will simply lie to us and state that the treatment systems at Lanxess are up and running hard while they increase security to ensure that no unauthorized (i.e. honest) persons can go in and check.
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