SINCE 6:15 am THIS MORNING THE TRAC PACKAGE HAS EXPANDED TO 132 pages. MORE THAN 3,300 KILOGRAMS OF CHLOROBENZENE DUMPED ON THE UNIROYAL SITE

 

Guess how many TRAC members will actually read those additional pages this weekend as well as all the rest of the package? Yup about that many (less than the fingers on one hand).  The additional 24 pages appear to be at least partially overheads in which GHD will be misrepresenting the four questions from TRAC they have to date answered so incompletely and poorly. The two I focused on were the failure to properly test the soils and sediments throughout the Stroh property albeit closest to the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) as well as the so called DNAPL issues both on and off the former Uniroyal Chemical site. The good news here for Lanxess/GHD/MECP is that TRAC members are fully satisfied and willing to move on no matter how tenuous, unlikely, incomplete, unreasonable or just plain stupid the answers that they are given. Afterall isn't TRAC's mantra  "WE CARE & WE QUESTION; NOT OUR ISSUE IF THEY LIE TO US" ?

The lying goes back decades and continues to this day. Susan B., Sylvia B., Pat M. all were long ago co-opted and making private deals not in the public interest with Uniroyal Chemical and successors. These deals included agreeing with the polluter that DNAPLS were a non issue which is outrageous. Yes I can believe that a couple of thimbles of chlorobenzene would have quickly, fully dissolved in the shallow aquifers as well as any tiny amount that moved into deeper aquifers. However by Lanxess/GHD's own admissions 3,300 KILOGRAMS have already been removed from the Elmira Aquifers since 1998 and it's still going.  Furthermore nearly 2,000 KILOGRAMS of that chlorobenzene are unaccounted for via normal production use and waste percentages.  Clearly there were large spills of this classic DNAPL chemical with a low solubility and a density greater than 1 (i.e. a "sinker"). These numbers are also in their November 18/2024 "Screening of Enhanced Technologies for Offsite Groundwater Remediation of the Elmira Drinking Water Aquifer" (page 3).

Evidence of free phase and residual DNAPL presence both on and off site is very strong. One of the excuses for continuing high NDMA concentrations in our groundwater is because of the very low drinking water standard of 9 parts per trillion (.009 ppb.). Meanwhile chlorobenzene with a drinking water standard of 80 parts per billion (80 ppb.) is still in our Municipal Lower Aquifer at 173 ppb. and the Municipal Upper at 123 ppb.  For that you can thank the sloppy handling and disposal of chlorobenzene resulting in DNAPLs throughout their site as even stated by Frank Rovers (CRA) at a meeting attended by Susan B. back in the 90s. 

LAST TRAC MEETING WAS 2 1/2 WEEKS AGO AND NOW NEXT ONE (Mon. DEC. 9/24) HAS 108 ADDITIONAL PAGES OF READING

 

Please I was a formal UPAC & CPAC member for ten years plus I still read these packages cover to cover and guess what: I am one of the few to do so. Other members whether lay persons (citizens) or so called professionals simply do not have either the time or the will to do that much reading prior to the two and three hour meetings. The credentialed ones in particular feel that their civic duty is being fulfilled when they volunteer for a municipal committee and then show up most of the time. Believe me lots of them struggle to do even that. This is a big reason that it is so easy for Lanxess, and the MECP to snow even the professionally trained TRAC members. Think of (professional) hockey teams playing each other but only one is getting paid for their game time, their preparation time, their travel time plus expenses. Volunteers let their volunteer work slip before they let their income producing work slip.

I'm still reading the 108 pages I received three days ago. Some is easy and some is tough sledding but it all takes time. The AGENDA alone is 1 1/2 typed pages worth. The Minutes of the last meeting (Nov. 14/24) are only 9 pages and all the rest is new items i.e. "Updates". "Other Business" and "Correspondence Received" . Much of that is propaganda such as the new MECP 2028 Order to replace the old failed one. So now we get a new failed one. There will be an Update on the HHERA  which ignores the fatal sampling flaws in it from the very beginning. Screening of Enhanced Technologies for the off-site groundwater aquifers is another waste of time as if any of these worked then why weren't they embraced and used twenty or thirty years ago? Oh right because they cost more money to implement than talking about this cleanup will ever cost.. 

At the moment with little to no real discussion we are advised that the technologies being retained for further study include ISCO, ISCR, Bio-Augmentation and Bio-Stimulation.  All of these plus all of the rejected ones have some merit but once again the polluter is deciding everything including which will move forward and which won't. Look why doesn't Woolwich Township and the Region simply shut TRAC down for the good it does and declare everything clean? The wildlife in and around the downstream Creek won't complain  nor will the Old Order Mennonites who's health is affected. Certainly the MECP could divert more money say to ignoring Grassy Narrows and other environmental crises but do so in a more smooth and professional manner.

IT SURE LOOKS TO ME AS IF TRAC HAVE ABANDONED EVEN THE APPEARANCE OF TRANSPARENCY

 O.K. so over a week ago TRAC's Support person (Stacey) refused to send my latest two critiques of GHD 's  (Luis A.) responses to TRAC's questions on to TRAC. Now that while problematic and not supportive of either accountability or transparency rested on Stacey's and Woolwich's shoulders. Meanwhile  I had already sent  these two strong critiques of Luis A.'s nonsense (his responses to Questions ! & 4) along to TRAC members and administration. Now frankly I don't give a fig for Woolwich's process and procedures because they routinely are designed to insulate and protect the guilty and dishonest versus doing anything positive or in the public interest. In fact this whole 34 year admitted failure to achieve drinking water standards or clean up the downstream toxins in the Canagagigue Creek has been an exercise in manipulation, dishonesty and deceit.  Woolwich Township have been front and centre in assisting this scam of the public. 

Magically it appears as if my two latest critiques will not be added to TRAC's correspondence list or included in the Minutes of their last meeting.  Compared to the brazen and deceitful actions Woolwich have taken over the years to support the conspiracy that everything possible is being done to clean up Uniroyal Chemical's messes, this is par for the course. All meaningful opposition must be silenced by whatever means possible. This included defamation of Woolwich volunteers (CPAC members) in Woolwich Township's  April 9, 2015 letter describing an alleged but phony "stakeholders' meeting" held at the Woolwich Administration building. Uniroyal and corporate successors along with fellow travellors are committed to walking away from their responsibilities while selling their self-serving version of reality to the public.    

DISHONEST, PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR LIARS HAVE CONFIDENCE IN LANXESS, GHD & THE MECP

 

I mean apparently they are so far down the road of dishonesty they likely feel that there is only one direction to go. I would suggest that that sole, remaining dishonest direction has them hot on the footsteps of  "Thelma and Louise" and we all know how that ended (mighty crash etc.). Maybe their goal is simply to pass on before their behaviour is fully exposed to the world. Maybe their goal is even more modest such as simply getting out of politics or various bureaucracies prior to the public recognition of their self-serving, anti public interest . Icons such as Peter Nygard (still pending?), Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein and a trove of others likely will exceed the size of their disgrace and public exposure but it will be seen and enjoyed nevertheless by the very few who have honestly opposed them.

The Agenda is out for next Monday's TRAC meeting and hoo boy are TRAC ever getting their hands even dirtier by participating in the entire sham of a process. Sebastian and a couple of others can honestly claim that they spoke up on a few significant issues but they are being used as window dressing by the really bad ones. In hindsight does anyone remember the name of a moderate or two within Adolph Hitler's Cabinet? O.K. if you feel that that comparison is too strong or stark how about moderates within any group who refuse to resign for self-serving reasons  despite knowing that the group have either lost their way or never had found it. 

The Agenda for next Monday is full of attempts to bolster the impression that Lanxess and the MECP are seriously on the hunt for better remediation methods. They are merely ten, fifteen to thirty years behind the timeline necessary to actually have the Elmira Aquifers remediated. Even now they are admitting on page 7 of their Minutes of the last meeting (Nov. 14/24) that even with a new initiative towards cleanup that NDMA for certain will require decades more time to occur.

Now keep in mind that it is the exact same organizations (Lanxess, CRA/GHD, MOE/MECP) who swore to Elmira citizens from 1990 through to almost 2017 that YES they would clean up the aquifers by 2028. That's over twenty-five years that they kept INSISTING  that everything was under control when numerous citizens, professionals and amateurs knew it couldn't be done. Then around 2016 sometime we heard the first peeps of  "...oh gosh this is harder than we thought. Maybe we won't get it done by 2028." That is now a crescendo of voices with predictions of the Elmira Aquifers achieving drinking water standards by 2050 or 2060.

I no longer believe a word they say. Why would I? They have lied, lied and then lied some more. DNAPL coverups continue to this day. They still admit on page 16 that there is approximately 2,000 kg. of "excess" chlorobenzene been discharged to the natural environment. That is most likely via free phase DNAPL discharge of raw chlorobenzene and that is why despite NDMA being difficult to achieve it's very low drinking water standard (9 ppt.); we still have lots of chlorobenzene in our Elmira Aquifers well above drinking water standards. If I know exactly where this free phase DNAPL migrated to off-site then why allegedly doesn't Lanxess, GHD and the MECP?  

Hence Elmira citizens feel free to believe whatever rubbish these parties tell you. It's always self-serving and intended to save them cleanup expenditures.

THE HYPOCRISY BEHIND OUR ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

 

"Polluter Pays" is a good one. Here in Elmira the taxpayers are on the hook for 50% of the cleanup costs of the aquifers not underneath the former Uniroyal Chemical (i.e. "off-site"). Why are the taxpayers on the hook for these sums? Uniroyal dumped toxic wastes willy nilly both on and off their site essentially at will. The Ontario Ministry of Environment were mandated to control these discharges and failed to do so properly. The result is the mess that we still have today and for which taxpayers continue to pay.

Our environmental laws with assistance from corporate lobbyists have focused solely on off-site impacts. Therefore . theoretically at least if a polluter could dig a big enough and deep enough hole, lined with say steel they could simply dump everything into that.  The problem is that our earth and waters are interconnected.  Dr. Gail Krantzberg (McMaster), years ago at CPAC, stated that every toxic waste that Uniroyal, spilled, dumped or  placed on or into their property will eventually leave their property. This can be via volatolization as liquids evaporate or it can be via groundwater movement, surface water erosion and or even soil gas migration. So what do progressive polluters do? Why they hire talent, QPs, consultants and anybody else who will sell their bull while pretending to be independent of the polluter themselves. They cut down forests to write reports stating that nothing has left their site. Dead fish downstream just blame somebody else. Odours and colours in Canagagigue Creek then lets do another study and waste another couple of years "discussing" it. Anything rather than clean up their own messes.

Then of course well off polluters who are big fish in a small community can easily overwhelm local councils. Between the equally guilty Ontario Ministry of Environment on side with natural attenuation and hydraulic containment of  industrially contaminated aquifers, local councils have few resources. In fact it is the MOE/MECP they turn to for assistance. The system has been corrupted beyond repair and that's exactly how polluters like it. Relatively small fry like Varnicolor Chemical or smaller can be put through their paces by the MECP.  Uniroyal/Lanxess just laugh at them because multi national, multi billion dollar corporations have much deeper pockets and budgets to play in the courts with. Again even our courts have lost their independence of the unholy dollar.  

IT'S BEST ALL DONE QUIETLY & PRIVATELY

 

Lanxess are talking, discussing and maybe negotiating with the downstream Old Order Mennonites living and working the land along the Canagagigue Creek.  What exactly are they talking about? My suspicion is that want something from this community and are willing to pay an enormous sum for it although they won't weaken their negotiating position prematurely. Potentially cleaning the Creek sediments and creekbank soils along with some floodplain soils could cost a hundred million dollars and take years to accomplish.  Think about it. There is more than five miles of Creek winding it's way downhill towards the Grand River just south of West Montrose. Think about dredging a couple of feet or more of the bottom sediments for that distance. Think about removing large areas of soils above the Creek waterline for that distance. Think about the floodplains themselves and how much contaminated fields there might be.

Or the alternative and totally irrelevant to the biased and phony HHERA (Risk Assessment), perhaps the 22 downstream families might accept say a million dollars per family to sign off on the whole mess. Just call it all an act of God while ignoring all the executives, bureaucrats and politicians who clearly had neither respect nor caring for the men, women and children affected by their self-serving decisions since 1942. Heck if necessary I'm sure some of the guilty parties would cheerfully throw some taxpayers money at these Old Order Mennonite families if they will sign a release indicating that they will never sue for damages.

If many of these families have either young or old members requiring serious health care whether directly, indirectly or not at all from Uniroyal Chemical toxins; they would certainly have an incentive to mitigate their health expenses especially as they generally are not covered by OHIP.  I expect some families would be relieved, others maybe not. There might even be a holdout or two. Regardless Lanxess would not be talking to them out of the goodness of their hearts. Lanxess are a corporation not a charity and it's all about the bottom line and what is best for Lanxess Canada.  

  

NEXT TRAC MEETING PLUS UPDATE ON WOOLWICH TWN. BEHAVIOUR

 

O.K. so the next TRAC meeting has been moved up to Monday December 9/24 at 6 pm. No I do not recommend anyone attend without an extensive background in Elmira politics as well as environmental matters. The reason is because of the volume and extent of bulls**t that will be thrown around at the meeting as if it came straight from above. Which it doesn't . In fact it comes from straight below and gives the devil much amusement. Keep in mind one can attend virtually as even some of the TRAC members who don't live in Elmira or Woolwich like to do to avoid winter car travel.  Don't ever get confused and think that all TRAC members are either locals or for that matter even Canadian citizens. They are not with Susan B. being the most egregious. Finally the in person meeting video seems to appear on the Woolwich Township website about five days after it's completion.

Yesterday's Woolwich Observer carries the ad for this upcoming TRAC meeting. It also states "Delegations must be submitted a minimum of eight (8) days prior to the Technical Remediation Advisory Committee meeting date to be included on the agenda."  That raises a number of issues such as why do the contents of  Delegations have to be submitted in advance at all?  Asking to be on the Agenda with a title of one's submission relevant to TRAC's mandate and the Elmira water issues should be sufficient. Secondly submitting one's Delegation eight days prior when at most the Minutes from the previous meeting as well as the proposed new Agenda do not get released until six or seven days prior is weird. Afterall you may well decide to present as a Delegation only after you see what is already planned to be discussed at TRAC. Lastly of course is the usual failure of TRAC (TAG) members to ask any intelligent or otherwise questions of Delegates of whom they have been advised not to ask questions of at all. 

All of this is typical Woolwich hunker down behaviour. They give lip service to openness and transparency while weeding out disparate voices and opinions, especially those of citizens far more knowledgeable on the subject matter than they or their bought and paid for Qualified Pe****s are. Both Luis and Allan D. are second stringers for GHD which indicates how  little concern Lanxess have for the reduced local opposition and critics ability to be heard in Woolwich and by Woolwich.