MAC'S/ BECKER'S IS PROGRESSING, VARNICOLOR APPEARS NOT

The lines of communication appear to have hit a snag in regards to the old Varnicolor site on Union St.. As I commented last Friday I have had no written response (e-mail or letter) from the M.O.E. to my eight questions and comments concerning the excavations done in mid July. Again it appears that there is absolutely nothing happening as the excavation stays open to the wind and rain. The piles of gravel have not been backfilled into the hole and it appears that all parties are undeterred by the optics of this alleged further remediation. These optics and non communication tend to reinforce the old attitude of it's not the public's business, trust us, we know what we are doing. Unfortunately this is Elmira and that trust is long gone.

Then we have the Mac's/ Becker's site. Here as of this morning, progress is being made. Furthermore there is a wire fence up to keep folks at a safe distance while at the same time permitting visual observation of the remediation. Also I might add the workers and supervisers are confident and comfortable in answering questions from the observing public in a straight forward manner. This is to be commended. A tanker truck was pumping out the remnants in the buried fuel tanks and the odours were practically non existent. I have been advised that they are expecting significant issues beneath the tanks and may well excavate as deep as thirty feet. My only complaint is that this should have been done years ago but better late than never. My compliments to the cleanup to date.