REGION'S DESPERATION BECOMING MORE AND MORE CLEAR

 Well I knew that the Region of Waterloo had been eyeing previously shut down water wells due to industrial contamination which was absolutely not confidence inspiring but here they go now looking at wells in Baden long closed due to Nitrate contamination. Nitrates result from over fertilizing farm fields with manure, sewage, hog, cattlle and sometimes even Sewage Treatment Plant solids.  Sounds yummy doesn't it? Yours truly has actually seen fields after dumping...oops I mean after fertilizing farm fields with biosolids including needles and other stuff that shouldn't have gone down the toilet in the first place but does anyways. Nitrates are basically nitrogen combined with some oxygen.

Today's K-W Record carries the following story titled "The search for clean water". Who exactly are they kidding. Possibly the clean water is long gone and the best we can do now is simply to a) find water that can be treated somehow and b) treated fully at a price that won't bankrupt us. We are advised that the Region are hoping to drill deeper through the contaminated aquifers to find a less contaminated aquifer. This action will of course increase our water costs as deeper wells mean bigger pumps and greater electrical costs to bring the water to the surface. Other issues pointed out in the article have to do with well interference in the Baden and New Hamburg areas as both farms and residents homes there are already dealing with lower water levels. 

Essentially what has happened is that citizens and residents have been subsidizing polluting industries throughout Waterloo Region for decades as they have contaminated our waters with solvents, pesticides and other industrial chemicals. We have also known that manure, nitrates and nitrites have been getting into our surface waters for decades from farm and feedlot runoff. This of course affects our drinking water as we attempt to treat Grand River water for human consumption. For decades even wells near our three biggest cities have been showing Nitrates and Nitrites at alarming levels. Further to the mix is Sodium from salt (NaCl-sodium chloride) put on our roads and sidewalks.

All in all the Region of Waterloo politicians have been playing fast and loose with our water and not keeping citizens informed as to the severity of the problems. We are now beginning to see the big picture and it's not a pretty picture.

LIGHTNING & HOCKEY BIAS STRIKE ELMIRA AGAIN!

 

Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time with this one .An obviously wealthy family (check out the mansion, the number of acres owned and the size /cost of the friggin fully equipped hockey rink and infrastructure) made the decision not to follow fairly normal municipal rules and regulations regarding constructing buildings, hooking up to municipal services etc. Now at first blush their excuse was well it's only a hockey rink for kids and hockey is a good thing here in Canada, right. Hmm well maybe O.K.   Although this is no outdoor rink, watered with a hose and used plywood for the ten inch high boards.  This is a full indoor rink and building including a commercial ice /refrigeration system, a commercial ice cleaner (zamboni??), washrooms etc. etc. A friend's first question to me was : How did this family get a professional contractor (plumber, electrician, carpenter, concrete specialists etc. ) to build all this without a Building Permit much less other paperwork to prove this is a documented, legitimate, built to code safe building. 

Now my friend can be enthusiastic at times and he considered that maybe somebody, somewhere got paid off. The more I think about it the more I wonder too. Is our municipal system so lax that a major building built between the mansion and the roadway can be expected to be ignored? This is Woolwich Township not Mississauga or Toronto where I expect buildings come and go all the time without proper paperwork.  O.K. somebody caught this "nice" undocumented building to be used for kids healthy entertainment. The last time Woolwich got an extra rink it was at the proposed new Rec Centre and cost us an experienced councillor (Pat McLean-no loss really) in exchange for a novice (Sandy Shantz) who went on to three terms as mayor totally ensuring that Uniroyal Chemical and successors got away with paying the absolute minimum to "clean up" their chemical nightmare including  Dioxins, DDT, NDMA etc.  

So is this as bad a decision as my gut is telling me or am I still leery of ice rinks after the last one  Woolwich voters wanted and what it really cost us all?

The story was in the K-W Record this week yet I did not see it in the Observer this week. Odd!

GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCE DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL CORRUPTION

 

Unfortunately though it does make many citizens believe that government corruption is a normal thing. Is our provincial Conservative government inherently corrupt? I'm going to be nice today and suggest that ideological stupidity combined with zero sense of history may be driving Doug Ford's most recent attempts to make his corporate sponsers greener. By greener I am not suggesting that Ford's government love the environment nearly as much as they love money and Ford by trying to make them "greener" is trying to make them wealthier at the public's expense. There is absolutely no attempt here to actually make, develop or improve upon a product. It's simply yet one more way to legally transfer wealth to those already expert at sucking at the government's udders. 

The Opinion Page in today's Record has an excellent article by Joel Bakan and Jim Standford titled "Was nothing learned from Walkerton" The straightforward answer is indeed NOTHING ! Below that article is one by Susan Koswan both reiterating recent posts of mine here but also adding information concerning pollutants in our Grand River. She also comments on how the Region of Waterloo were mishandling our water supply back in 1992 and none other than Dr. John Cherry so advised them of that fact.

We as citizens have been far too complacent and we've already paid too high of a price for that complacency. For the love of all that's holy why doesn't Doug Ford get his Conservative back up about the federal government's ongoing attacks against honest citizens including threats of criminalization? Other provinces have done so and while Doug's environmental failures will cost him votes he could recoup many if he took similar steps to those of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Newfoundland who will not allow our federal government to steal lawful property and criminalize honest citizens who have followed firearms laws and rules for decades. 

REGION OF WATERLOO TWISTS IN THE WIND WHILE TAXPAYERS CONTINUE TO FOOT THE BILLS ($15 MILLION MOST RECENT)

 

The math may be a little off or that is just typical Record reporters who either can't do math or simply described the increased capacity from portable trailers unclearly. Apparently one trailer will start filtering water at 25 litres per second and then be scaled to 50 l/sec by the end of 2026. If all goes well than three more filtration trailers will be added for a total increased capacity of 300 l/sec. Readers who can do the math can see the potential contradiction. This story is in today's K-W Record titled "We have a lot of eggs in the basket".

Just to keep the pressure on everybody we are also advised that the four filtration containers weighing 100,000 pounds each will be sitting on top of critical water and service lines located seven metres below ground. By my math that is 400,000 pounds of containers although we are not told if that is dry weight or wet weight. It could make a huge difference just as the mixing of measurement systems (British & Metric)  for weight (pounds) and distance (metres) might also signify somebody who is less than proficient in one or both measuring systems. I just state this in order to tee up the Region down the road for yet another excuse if things don't work out.

Permanent repairs to the Mannheim Treatment Plant are scheduled to be completed by 2031. I have yet to see any explanation as to why that plant was allowed to get so degraded in the first place. Allegedly after June 3, 2026 there may be some partial development allowed to move forward based upon a risk assessment that has been done. If it's anything like the piece of garbage Risk Assessments (two of them) done in Elmira for both the former Uniroyal plant and for the Canagagigue Creek then developers and house builders can rest easy as the Risk Assessment will merely justify what the people paying for it want. 

Further work by the Region includes completing renovations to wells and searching for other sources. If only all the wells that have been shut down either short term, long term or permanently could be safely brought back into service. They can't because there were serious and inescapable reasons for their shutdowns in the first place. Perhaps again greater thought and consideration to real groundwater remediation should have occurred long ago in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Elmira.

IT SURE SEEMS TO ME THAT MR. MACKIN (LANXESS) IS FULL OF BULL RIGHT ALONG WITH THE ONT. MIN. OF ENVIRONMENT

 

Michael Mackin is/was a spokesperson for Lanxess Canada here in Elmira. I and a few others take umbrage with either blatant lies or even just disingenuous statements intentionally made to mislead the public. Sorry but that's the way I'm built and living here in Elmira unfortunately it happens far too often from various authorities (MECP), politicians and of course polluters and their consultants. In this case I'm referring to an article in the Woolwich Observer dated May 18, 2023 and written by Leah Gerber titled "  Chlorobenzene spike latest mystery for environmental watchdog". 

According to sources there has been recent increases in chlorobenzene concentrations found in observation well CH-75B. Now Lanxess would have us believe that there are other sources of chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers which certainly is a realistic possibility based upon the number of local facilities using chlorobenzene and the sweetheart deal of Oct./Nov. 1991 between Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario Ministry of Environment. Basically at that time Uniroyal accepted 100% blame and responsibility in exchange for not proceeding at the Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) to eviscerate the Ministry of Environment's credibility and integrity. Also Uniroyal received some slippery wording allowing them to escape DNAPL cleanup based upon the Ministry's biased interpretations of future reports written by Uniroyal consultants and others. Also the 1991 deals have allowed Uniroyal and successors to so far escape all downstream cleanup of the Canagagigue Creek that has been contaminated initially with solvents etc. but remains to this day as a repository of DDT, dioxins and more from Uniroyal's behaviour.

I also believe that there is likely a second source of NDMA to the Elmira Aquifers which to date has not been admitted to by any of the guilty parties. The entire "investigation" was a joke by the MOE (later MECP) and that also would have been exposed at the EAB hearing if it had been allowed to continue. Currently we have admissions that both Nutrite and Varnicolor contributed chemicals to the Elmira Aquifers with Nutrite responsible for ammonia and Varnicolor for half a dozen chlorinated solvents. 

Meanwhile both Mr. Machin, Tiffany Svensson and others are all quite willing to blame some unknown chlorobenzene contributor versus determining who the culprit is. The MECP however are sticking to their 1991 story suggesting that it's all speculation and the chlorobenzene plume is contained within the larger NDMA plume and will be remediated eventually along with the NDMA. Likely candidates for further pollution blame would include the former Borg Textiles and former Varnicolor Chemical. Sanyo has always caught my eye based upon nearby observation well CH-38 and its' results over the decades. Nobody of course mentions the small cleanup at MotiveAir (First St.) years ago that most likely was a result of their next door neighbour Varnicolor Chemical. Other nearby companies are also potential candidates.

By the way the concentration increases at CH-75B are likely due to the shutting down of pumping well W4 that was controlling the chlorobenzene  DNAPL found in observation well OW57-32R. Everyone knows this and everyone lies about it. That off-site DNAPL was an embarrassment to all the guilty parties.

EXACTLY WHEN DID THE CORRUPTION START IN WOOLWICH?

 

Oh my but that's a tough one. Which corruption are we talking about? What kind of corruption are we talking about? Are we talking about brown paper bags filled with cash or "merely" corruption defined as "riddled with errors"? Are we talking government corruption as in the Ontario Ministry of Environment or rather as bilateral deals between Uniroyal Chemical and Ontario or Uniroyal Chemical and the Region of Waterloo or Uniroyal Chemical and Woolwich Township? How about lower key corruption whereby Uniroyal has an understanding with one or two local councillors to keep them in the loop ahead of time?

Finally how about local citizens with connections to Uniroyal Chemical in the old days. Did those cheerleaders change their tune as Uniroyal's complicity and negligence become more obvious over time? How about local citizens representing a larger group who are persuaded to change teams? APTE under Susan Rupert was a force to be reckoned with and it amazed me when I heard how accommodating a certain mayor and real estate agents were in assisting Ms. Rupert's move from Elmira to Waterloo to attend the University of Waterloo.  It's one thing to be happy when you are losing a harsh critic but did they know who her replacement was going to be?

Clearly there had been a certain amount of corruption at the municipal,  regional and provincial levels for decades in allowing Uniroyal Chemical free rein to pollute, destroy and degrade our air, soil, Creek (Canagagigue) and groundwater. There were pollution laws which simply weren't enforced. The Ontario Ministry of Environment viewed their job as squelching complaints, misrepresenting critics and defending corporations inalienable rights to make money off the backs of their hired labour, the environment and unfortunate local residents. The residents rights to clean air, water, soil and food were way down the list of priorities.   

With decades of corruption under their belts it really wasn't that difficult to manipulate both the public and the public's representatives, voted or otherwise. This is what democracy has become. The dishonest leading the disinterested . Those that do step up are either co-opted or squelched one way or the other. That is the huge advantage of governmental corruption. You are on the inside protecting the guilty who are also on the inside.

THE BIG STICK IS COMING: WRDSB FOR SURE IS IN TROUBLE BUT WHAT ABOUT WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP?

 

I know, I know we have lots of Conservatives locally who have always toed the provincial line. Heck we've got a number of Conservative M.P.s (federal) such as Connie Cody and Kelly Deritter and Matt Strauss. Apologies if I've lumped in a provincial Tory (Conservative ) here along with the federal ones but that just makes my point more that Doug Ford really shouldn't be gunning for anybody in Waterloo Region. Heck both Ken Seiling and Sandy Shantz are both Conservatives as well.

The Waterloo Region District School Board frankly are a bunch of idiots and whatever their political leanings have long been an embarrassment locally.  Whether it was the Caroline Burjowski fiasco in which the Chair made the initial errors only to be followed by the rest of the Board leaping in with both feet and treating her savagely; they actually got their comeuppance by the courts which just goes to prove that they at least are not corrupt all the time.  Or maybe it's been the treatment of their own trustees when one has dared not to follow the company/Board line on all things stupid. The Mike Ramsay affair makes a complete sham of the Board's commonsense and decency. Suspending publicly elected trustees based upon a few hurt feelings on the Board is jus so sad and pathetic.

Yes I can certainly see our premier being fed up with the WRDSB's nonsense and taking hard action. But what about a municipality (Woolwich) that has let one of the most heavily contaminated chemical sites in the country continue to fester? Instead of redoubling their efforts years ago they are merely preparing excuses and rewriting the narrative. What about a Region (Waterloo) that  seems hell bent on infuriating its' citizens through secret land grabs (Wilmot) as well as a local Elmira Water Crisis that is now a Region wide Water Crisis? Plus don't forget speed cameras removed by Doug Ford only to be replaced by surveillance cameras.  You know I'm not a Conservative voter but I could get behind the province saying enough is enough here in Waterloo Region. Call it amalgamation, call it sending in a superviser but whatever it's time for a major shakeup.