FULL CREDIT GOES TO THE M.O.E. PROFESSIONALS

Twenty years ago they got caught red handed in untruths, repeatedly, yet they did not throw in the towel and go straight so to speak. Rich Clausi, Ted Oldfield and myself served their "terminological inexactitudes" up to them on a platter and made fools out of them. Nevertheless they were sucessful with the big picture. They claimed that Varnicolor Chemical was small potatoes compared to Uniroyal when it came to the destruction of the Municipal drinking water aquifer. In fact if the NDMA standard for example is .009 parts per billion (ppb) and Uniroyal contributes 20 ppb and Varnicolor 1 ppb , isn't Varnicolor's contribution in this hypothetical example still 100 times greater than the drinking water standard?

We knew twenty years ago that the M.O.E. had reneged on all promises to install deep monitoring wells at the Union St. site. They had also studiously avoided deep boreholes and soil samples which as has been discussed previously would have been the smoking gun. What we didn't know was that the UA or Upper aquifer flowed southwest versus east towards the Canagagigue Creek. What we also didn't know or appreciate was the very inadequate and insubstantial aquitard beneth varnicolor. This aquitard is supposed to be a confining layer, hopefully with clay which would protect deeper aquifers. In reality there is minimal clay, lots of silt and some cobbles and gravel throughout. The other interesting point is that there were two suggested remedial strategies both supposed to cleanup the site within five to ten years. The bigger more expensive and supposedly faster one was done and yet here it is twenty years later and the pump and treat system is still going. WHY?

All of these questions are relevant to the excavations done a few weeks ago. I am still waiting for answers from the M.O.E. and as well have opened a conversation with a third involved party. Whatever the truth in this situation it should not come at the expense of people who bear absolutely zero responsibility for the contamination in the first place. Whatever needs to be done should belatedly be done but for me that puts the hook squarely on the Ontario M.O.E., nobody else.