MIN. OF THE ENVIRONMENT SWEETHEART DEAL EXPOSED

Over the years here in Elmira, Ontario I have seen some grotesque examples of Ontario Min. of the Environment incompetence, corruption and deception. This time I am less shocked because I had a number of years ago put the pieces of the puzzle together. The M.O.E. basically are a government buffer between polluting industries and outraged citizens. They pretend to be unbiased third parties looking out for nature and the environment.

If you look on the website for the Township of Woolwich you will see under the heading of Council, the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC). Among other purposes and goals, CPAC are to work towards the cleanup of both the Elmira aquifers and the Chemtura (Uniroyal) site. Through discussion and collaboration they are to determine the best course of action for the environmental cleanup here in Elmira. The M.O.E. in the past have been caught misrepresenting facts. They have had one of their Officers charged and convicted for attempting to assist in the coverup at Varnicolor Chemical. They have been a party to the "phantom mound" which was a hydrogeological artifice used by Chemtura to indicate that they had greater hydraulic containment on their site than they actually did. They have amended the Nov. 1991 Control Order first and then gone to CPAC and asked to discuss the possibility of doing that which was already done. We all thought that the Control Order still mandated full hydraulic containment on the Chemtura site, seven years after the requirement had been removed.

The 1991 Control Order also mandated the "removal of DNAPL as a contaminant source". Or so we thought. That's what the document said. Not only did it not happen but the M.O.E. routinely sided with Uniroyal/Chemtura and their consultants when they produced reports whose conclusions were in glaring contrast to the data produced. DNAPL report after DNAPL report constantly minimized both the presence, the significance and the remediation necessary.

Eventually it became obvious to me that the M.O.E. and Chemtura had some kind of formal or informal sweetheart deal in place. Twenty-one years after the fact this has been confirmed. On October 7, 1991 Uniroyal and the M.O.E. signed their deal. It was a blanket Indemnity to Uniroyal for their destruction of the Elmira drinking water aquifers. It was formalized one month prior to the November 4, 1991 Amended Control Order. In fact this Control Order was merely the public face put on the non cleanup of the Elmira aquifers. This private deal known as Schedule H was to give Uniroyal the right to ignore calls for the cleanup of their grossly contaminated site. Unknown to the public and the public consultation body supposedly formed to assist with the cleanup, Uniroyal had a free pass. The province of Ontario permitted them to walk but were careful not to tell the public. If they had there would have been a huge outcry both in Elmira and probably across Canada. The "Elmira crisis" was national news at that time. The M.O.E. and Uniroyal repeatedly misled the public when they insisted that the cleanup would be done and it would be done right. The only thing that was done right was the sweetheart deal.

This sweetheart agreement known as Schedule H has only come to light inadvertently. It was handed out unkowingly to myself and the new CPAC members by Woolwich Township. If it wasn't for the almost complete turnover of Council and Mayor in the last Municipal election, we still wouldn't have this smoking gun. Make no mistake this is the smoking gun proving the close ties between polluters and their supposed regulators. This agreement documents the grotesque breech of the public trust by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. They have sold out, deceived and betrayed the public in Elmira, Ontario for the last twenty- three years.