THE ELMIRA WATER CRISIS WAS THE REAL DEAL: THE ALLEGED "CLEANUP" HOWEVER IS NOT

 

    THE "CLEANUP" HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SHAM

Wow how time, focus and concentration eventually make things clearer. Around 1995 I parked my car possibly in front of the then Woolwich Arena with a sign on the roof reading "The Cleanup Is A Sham". I was referring to the DNAPL reports and how APTE had rolled over on the issue and supported Uniroyal, CRA and the Ministry of Environment (M.O.E.) who all denied the presence of free phase DNAPL on the Uniroyal Chemical site despite all criteria for its' presence being exceeded. The distinction between free phase versus residual DNAPL almost seemed like the guilty parties pretending that if there was no free phase DNAPL then DNAPL as residual DNAPL really was no big deal. It was a big deal and there wasn't a shred of proof that there wasn't free phase DNAPL and in fact  the opposite was true. For a long while I clearly understood how badly APTE had screwed up but that was the key. I worked with Susan Bryant for years afterwards (until late 2007) thinking that APTE had simply badly screwed up. I was wrong. They (Susan B. and Sylvia ) were already co-opted by late 1993 when the M.O.E. released their December 10, 1993 DNAPL report accepting the Conestoga Rovers (CRA) nonsense and gibberish denying free phase DNAPL on the Uniroyal site.                                                                                                                                                                                                        We later found out that Frank Rovers (CRA) actually admitted at a UPAC meeting that the Uniroyal site had DNAPL throughout it supposedly so extensively that removing it would be impossible. You don't get residual DNAPL until after a continuous flow (free phase) has gone by leaving unconnected strands and  droplets behind. This residual DNAPL if in an aquifer with flowing groundwater is far more likely to fully dissolve and disappear much faster than pools of free phase DNAPL. We also found out that free phase DNAPL from Uniroyal had left their site and migrated under gravity westwards onto the Nutrite/Yara site. This is precisely why pumping well W8 was finally positioned in the Municipal Lower Aquifer on Nutrite's property close to Union St. years after the other offsite pumping wells started up in 1998. To this day Lanxess states that chlorobenzene concentrations throughout Elmira are highest from pumping well W8.

Over the following decades further issues have come to light. They include multiple different DNAPL chemicals and others in the Uniroyal subsurface. Each and every chemical compound in subsurface aquifers reduces the solubility concentration of the others present.  Hence the lab solubility figures in no way match the actual in ground solubility concentrations found in and around Uniroyal. The Effective Solubility concentrations are much lower than lab solubilities and despite this as recently as a couple of years ago Allan Deal (GHD) was using the 1% Solubility Rule to "prove" that there weren't DNAPLS present in a presentation to TRAC members. Yours truly attempted to clarify but was quickly shut down by the TRAC Chair. So much for public consultation and so much for ethics from Uniroyal/Lanxess consultants.

The latest issue that has come to my attention is the recrystallization of hydrophobic compounds in the subsurface after DNAPL dissolution.  DDT and Dioxins, both courtesy of Uniroyal Chemical, have extremely tiny solubility concentrations in water. In solvents however it's a totally different thing as both compounds readily dissolve into chlorobenzene and many other solvents found at Uniroyal and now throughout the Elmira Aquifers.  DDT and dioxins, PCBs and much more will travel both with the subsurface DNAPL as well as with passing groundwater that slowly dissolves the DNAPL albeit the DDT and Dioxins are at extraordinarily lower concentrations than say chlorobenzene and other solvents. That said a Solubility of 50 ng/l (part per trillion) is still higher than the drinking water standard for DDT (approx. 20 ng/l) and very much higher than the drinking standard for 2,3,7,8 TCDD (dioxin) which is 15 ppq (parts per quadrillion). 

A while back I advised that there was was DDT and Dioxins in Elmira's groundwater at very low concentrations although still likely above the Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS). Now I have learned that as DNAPL slowly dissolves over time (decades to centuries)  both DDT and Dioxins can at a certain concentration within the remaining DNAPL, recrystallize into their solid form. They become once again on their own a new source if you will of DDT and Dioxin to the aquifer. It seems obvious to me that all the pump & treat in the world will never restore Elmira's drinking water. The other problem is that both the MECP and the successor companies to Uniroyal Chemical have a long history of always finding the cheapest, least effective remediation method. To date I see no serious change in that behaviour despite the never ending puffery and bull from Lanxess, GHD and the MECP. These folks are simply snake oil salesmen selling the public false promises. 

 

  

REMEDIATION ALTERNATIVES IGNORING HISTORY, DNAPLS & CHLORINATED SOLVENTS OTHER THAN CHLOROBENZENE; ARE TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

 

                              

                THE "CLEANUP" HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SHAM

Not only with the acquiescence of the Ontario MECP but in fact with their wild enthusiasm the polluter, his consultants and a gaggle of fellow travellors have embraced the blindfolded focus upon chlorobenzene and NDMA from almost day one. Pretending that every other toxic, dirty, smelly, putrid and gross liquid and solid chemical waste fits neatly into the characteristics of either NDMA or chlorobenzene is the height of hypocrisy, junk science, propaganda and prevarication. 

There are takeaways from this latest report by Mr. Cullen Flanders (Onterris). For example although it turns out to be hindsight for the public due to intentional misinformation; chlorobenzene is not a "typical" chlorinated solvent. It degrades via soil bacteria etc. very quickly in shallow, aerobic surficial soils and even in deeper, anaerobic soils its' low solubility in groundwater degrades quickly. Who knew? The problem of course is that the majority of it does not readily dissolve in groundwater as does NDMA. What it does do is pool in low lying areas particularly on top of low permeability surfaces such as aquitards and slowly dissolve into the groundwater over decades/centuries. 

NDMA on the other hand does not degrade naturally either in aerobic (oxygen rich) or anaerobic (oxygen poor) environments. It fully, 100% dissolves into groundwater and away it goes. It was in the north wellfield years before it was ever found in the south wellfield which only came on line in the 1970s so rest assured that cancers and other diseases were caused by NDMA long before the start of the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis. 

Yesterday's post needs amending in the last paragraph. I should have stated that as the "NDMA and chlorobenzene dissolved plumes have shrunk they are revealing more and more about the sources of all (Those Contaminants)  not just the two that Uniroyal wants us to focus on.". In other words as NDMA and chlorobenzene plumes decrease we are finding clearer evidence as to how we citizens have been lied to by Uniroyal and successors about the number of different corporate sources of those two contaminants. What we have been successfully deflected from is the various corporate sources around Elmira for all the other toxic contaminants including Dioxins, DDT, PAHs, PCBs, chlorophenol, trichloroethane, trichloroethene,  dichloroethylene, dichloroethane etc. Do not forget that Varnicolor had admitted LNAPLS (BTEX chemicals) as well as DNAPLS consisting of multiple chlorinated solvents in their surficial aquifer which we were not told had indeed migrated downwards into both aquitards and drinking water aquifers until 2016. The Ontario M.O.E. (MECP) blatantly lied to and misled us by reneging on their early 1990s promise to install those deeper monitoring wells quickly so that we could see the full vertical extent of Varnicolor's contamination.  Are those DNAPLS still below Varnicolor Chemical slowly dissolving into Elmira's drinking water aquifers? Will they and other chemicals in the DNAPL forever contaminate above drinking water standards our local water irrelevant of how much NDMA and chlorobenzene are eventually removed? Finally what honest party is there to actually monitor all these other toxic chemicals in our groundwater including low levels of Dioxins and DDT, chlorinated solvents or otherwise? Forget Lanxess, GHD or the Ont. MECP.      

 

ANOTHER REPORT: "POTENTIAL REMEDIAL ALTERNATIVE UPDATE" - LIKELY TEN TO TWENTY YEARS OVERDUE

 

We are approximately within 18-20 months of the mandated 2028 deadline to have achieved Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS) in the Elmira Aquifers. All parties agree it won't happen. Here's the rub. Those criteria are not just for NDMA and chlorobenzene. They are for each and every toxic contaminant in our drinking water aquifers. This includes some that are routinely monitored for and others less so such as Dioxins, DDT, PCBs, PAHs, other chlorinated solvents etc. These others, contrary to the lies we've been fed, will not automatically be at ODWS even if and when NDMA and chlorobenzene are. 

All the DNAPL lies that Uniroyal, CRA, GHD and the Ont. MECP have told Elmira citizens are coming home to bite them. Dr. Neil Thompson (U. of Waterloo) discovered an excess of 1,900 kilograms of chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers in exceedance of the known quantity provided by Uniroyal Chemical. Past strong evidence of off-site chlorobenzene DNAPLS on the Nutrite property and beside the Howard St. Water Tower, pumping well W4 and monitoring well OW57-32R have long been denied with only recent tacit admittance of DNAPLS by the Water Tower. 

The report mentioned in the title has a Schematic Of Hydrogeologic Units (Fig. 1.2) on page 9. It shows the amount of mass contaminant recovery by the pumping wells both on the Uniroyal site and off the site. Pumping rates and concentrations for each pumping well are also shown. Unfortunately it is a poor Diagram as it does not explicitly say which contaminant it is tracking. Based upon the concentrations it likely is the much lower concentration NDMA rather than chlorobenzene that is being shown. Regardless one can quickly see that the two highest quantities of extracted contaminant are from pumping well W9 (2,845.1 g/yr) and pumping well W3R (426.7 g/yr). These quantities are even higher than the third place grossly contaminated on-site pumping well PW4 which due to its' much lower pumping rate is only removing 225.9 g/yr). 

W9 is located slightly west of Union St. near Park St. This is the location of a former textile industry and is just across the road (Union St.) from the former furniture company (Roxton ?) as well as Uniroyal Chemical. It is also very close to pumping well W8 just barely on the east side of Union St. on the former Nutrite/Yara property and very close to the off-site DNAPL from Uniroyal Chemical. Meanwhile pumping well W3R is downgradient from the former pumping well W4 which was located right in the heart of the off-site DNAPL beside the Howard St. Water Tower. W4 pumped heavily for many years and the powers to be may just have shut it down prematurely as higher concentrations of chlorobenzene have shifted towards nearby (south) pumping well W3R as well as nearby monitoring wells causing consternation amongst our local DNAPL DENIERS.   

Simply put it was easier to lie and bafflegab early on in the alleged "cleanup" but as NDMA and chlorobenzene dissolved plumes have shrunk they are revealing more and more about the sources of all contamination not just the two that Uniroyal and the Ont. MECP want us to focus on.

MORE WATERLOO REGION BULL%#@* YESTERDAY TO APPEASE WILMOT VOTERS PRIOR TO NEXT MONTH'S MUNICIPAL ELECTION ?

 

Trick Question: How many more times can Waterloo Region lie to Wilmot citizens before they stop believing you? 

The answer is  zero for half the Township at least.

Next trick question: Why is the Region finally in September making commitments about sharing water level data with Wilmot citizens?

The answer is because we've just had one of the wettest summers in recent memory and they are hoping that water levels are higher than usual. Plus if they don't share the information, sympathetic voters in Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge may punish them at next month's municipal election.

Third trick question: Actually it might be a trick headline above. Do Township voters (i.e. Woolwich, Wellseley, Wilmot, North Dumphries) only get to vote for one regional councillor which happens to be their mayor? Voters in Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge get to vote for additional councillors specific to their cities to represent their larger populations, do they not? If this is indeed the case then the only regional bum that Wilmot can possibly throw out is their current mayor Natasha Salonen.

Hmm meanwhile today's K-W Record has two interesting articles that might affect next month's election. The one is by Luisa D'Amato titled "Greater transparency coming on water levels, council told" and the other is by Jeff Outhit titled "Put your ID in your shoe when you run". The first is a very conveniently timed regional council meeting yesterday in which the Region of Waterloo appear at long last to be responding decently, properly and honestly to local Wilmot citizens who help pay for their salaries. Is this article for real just like is yesterday's regional council meeting for real or is it all for show? Basically this year Regional Council have left mayor Salonen out to dry with their disappointing, arrogant, "we know better than you" attitudes. Both yesterday's council meeting and Louisa's gentle handling and lack of appropriate editorial content today appear to be a gift to mayor Natasha Salonen to get her reelected. 

The second article by Jeff Outhit is an incredible boost to the current Chair of Regional Council, Karen Redman. Apparently Karen Redman was in New York City as part of her duties as a Canadian federal Member of Parliament (Lib.) during the 911 attacks on the World Trade Centre etc. She literally had absolutely nothing to do responsibility wise or politically regarding the attacks but thanks to the K-W Record her profile has just received a huge boost with the electorate, again right before next month's election. Keep in mind she hopes to maintain her position as Regional Chair but thanks to Premier Doug Ford it is not up to the electorate but up to him whether she continues as Regional Chair or he appoints someone else, likely a Conservative. My respect for our media in general and the K-W Record specifically has taken a fall in recent years.      

A RECAP OF FACTS & EVIDENCE OF VARNICOLOR CHEMICAL'S MASS DUMPING OF TOXIC LIQUID WASTES INTO THE ELMIRA AQUIFERS

 

ORDER OF CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE DONE IN ELMIRA, ONT.

1)     Uniroyal Chemical

2)     Varnicolor Chemical

3)     Nutrite (Yara)

Nutrite contributed ammonia to the Elmira Aquifers as also did Uniroyal. Nutrite are however not only third on the list but a long ways down that list compared to the mass on and off site dumping of liquid wastes done by both Uniroyal and Varnicolor. Uniroyal is first not based upon number of years of dumping but upon the volumes of chemical production and volumes of wastewaters they produced as a  side effect of that production. Likely a few gas stations in town (beside the Steddick Hotel, Gord's, Voisin's) also contributed a few petroleum hydrocarbons such as Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl Benzene & Xylene to our ground and drinking water as both Varnicolor and Uniroyal did as well. 

Yes there were cleanups at all three of the mentioned gas stations/car dealerships. Yes there have been Mickey Mouse cleanups at the much larger messes made by Uniroyal, Varnicolor and Nutrite. No other corporate polluters within Elmira have even remotely been brought to justice. Only Uniroyal Chemical has received even a small fraction of the media attention that their behaviour and actions deserve.

Varnicolor 's contaminants include NDMA, chlorobenzene, trichloroethylene, PCBs, Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl Benzene and Xylenes, trichloroethane, chloroform and more. They were both accidentally and purposefully dumped on both of their properties namely the former 62 Union St. (now 84 Howard Ave.) site as well as at their infamous Lot 91 at the extreme east end of Oriole Parkway.  The intentional dumping at Lot 91 included intentionally rupturing barrels and letting them leak out as well as pumping dirty solvents into two end to end 10,000 gallon tanks with holes in those ends. The first method was seen and an Affidavit given to the Ontario M.O.E. by a Uniroyal employee working at their warehouse fourty metres from Lot 91. Videotapes exist of pumping into the two 10,000 gallon tanks with witnesses noticing strong solvent odours for the next few days followed by an examination of the ends of the two tanks after the company was investigated.

Up on the main site (62 Union St.) the mass dumping was accomplished by a buried road tanker behind the main, orange administrative building connected via pipes to the floor drain inside the building. There was also a buried septic tank behind the road tanker unconnected to toilets but also connected to the same floor drain inside the orange administrative building. Affidavits and statements from multiple witnesses who were ordered to dump liquid chemical wastes down this floor drain have been in the hands of the Ont. M.O.E. for decades. 

Those liquid wastes included waste water from paint booth water curtains from major automotive manufacturers as well as dimethylamine ( precurser to NDMA)  from the production of can coatings used to inhibit rust inside food cans. These can coatings were produced inside the orange building and there are two affidavits from former employees other than myself to this fact in the hands of the Ont. Min. of Environment (M.O.E.). Minor dumping (45 gallons or less) occurred on an almost weekly basis as unsecured drums with waste solvents got dropped or tipped over regularly. Spills sometimes were "contained" with sawdust and yes the M.O.E. also has Affidavits to that fact as well. 

I believe that while Uniroyal Chemical were environmental pigs and received some of the condemnation they deserved, Varnicolor were coddled and protected immorally and illegally by the Ontario Ministry of Environment. This protection resulted in greatly reduced remediation for the entire Elmira Aquifers and now we are seeing the result of that as the 2028 "cleanup" has failed and all parties grudgingly so admit.

HOW DOES LYING WORK FOR THE INFLUENTIAL AND THOSE WITH POWER/AUTHORITY?

 

A large part of it requires absolutely zero shame or concern for things like ethics, morality and honesty. If one is self-entitled enough then one can simply ignore the standards of society around them. Most of us do care that we have a reputation for honesty and truth telling. Corporations and governments on the other hand in particular simply don't care if the knowledgeable people know they lie like dogs because the knowledgeable people are in the minority. For the ethically impoverished it's all about plausible deniability. As Donald Trump has stated and people (& corporations) of his ilk prefer; he could commit murder in broad daylight in Times Square and never get convicted. To then accuse him of murder after being acquitted by a jury would only make him laugh. 

Uniroyal Chemical and corporate successors have learned how to play the environmental game. They solidify the power and authority of local politicians behind themselves via bribes, gifts, donations, political support or whatever is necessary. They have most likely attended talks, speeches, conferences and private tutoring sessions telling them how to capture the hearts and minds of most of the public. This includes always talking the language of decency, honesty, environmental concern etc. regardless of their actual behavior and actions behind the scenes. In the early days Uniroyal Chemical allegedly refused to attend meetings of CEAC (Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee) according to one  source (Ewa Dabrowska). Uniroyal and successors learned. Now they not only attend but they run the whole show which works far better for them. They own the Woolwich Township TRAC committee through Woolwich Council as they have since 2000 ( UPAC, CPAC, RAC & TAG) when Pat McLean and Susan Bryant sweet talked CPAC into agreeing to the change. Esther Thur, Henry Regier and I all argued against that change to no avail. We had not forgotten how useless Woolwich Council had been in the 1970s, 80s and 90s whereas the others had or never knew. 

Uniroyal/Lanxess will not attend any meeting in which they are outnumbered. They expect and receive deference from all authorities or they simply won't play. Part of their game plan also includes looking for opponents who can be turned for a price. In other words they want and are comfortable dealing with people who switch allegiances once well motivated. Of course those people had better never have a second change of heart if they know what is good for them. Hell hath no fury like a corporation wooed and then scorned.  

Between financially struggling media, dishonest politicians, laws riddled with loopholes, corporate money and influence; our environment, health and futures are in grave jeopardy. 

TRAC SHOW SOME BACKBONE & INTEGRITY: RESIGN, WALK OUT OR AT THE VERY LEAST CONFRONT MECP, LANXESS/ GHD & WOOLWICH TWN.

 TRAC - Technical, Remediation & Advisory Committee

You have been and continue to be led by the nose by the above parties exactly like the original UPAC, followed by CPAC, RAC & TAG. There was a 4 1/2 year period  (2011- Aug. 2015) when CPAC wagged the dog versus Chemtura and the M.O.E.. Your colleague Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach was on that CPAC and for a very short while we had Chemtura and the M.O.E. on their heels, actually listening in trepidation to what we told them they had to do. And along came Sandy and Mark Bauman and Chemtura/M.O.E. breathed a sigh of relief as corporate order and control was restored. Under their first 21 years and last 11 years of total control over the cleanup, it has totally failed. Neither NDMA nor chlorobenzene much less DDT, dioxins and lots more solvents, chlorinated or otherwise, have been reduced to Ontario drinking water standards. Nor will they be and those parties knew that full well in 1990 and have lied to we the citizens ever since. Much greater expenditure of funds including specific DNAPL removal was needed as well as simply even following through on Target pumping rates of wells which they grossly failed to do.

Stand up and take their power, their credibility and their legitimacy away from them! They are not and have never been honest brokers.