HEIDELBERG DRINKING WATER SYSTEM

I've been on-line trying to sort out for myself the geographical and political boundaries around Heidelberg's water system. I am confused. The Region of Waterloo's website under WATER and then under both SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION as well as under QUALITY AND TREATMENT confuses me even more. From past experience I have learned that there are at least two reasons why this can occur. The first is that I'm not as smart as I think I am and the second is that it's intended to be confusing. In other words our authorities have something to hide and this is one way to do it.

Heidelberg as I understand it is geographically within Woolwich Township. St. Clements right next door however is within Wellesley Township. So far so good. Now here is where things get tricky. Woolwich Township used to be in charge of the Heidelberg Water Supply System as well as the Heidelberg Distribution System. This was the case back in 2004 and is so indicated on the Region's website. Back in 2003 Woolwich Township had responsibility for seven Water Systems. The two that have been since dropped are Breslau and Heidelberg. Breslau is now serviced by water from Kitchener. Heidelberg we are assurred in the Regions's Annual Water Report has it's own wells namely HD1 and HD2 and solely supply the Heidelberg Distribution System . Similarily St. Clements have their own two wells namely SC2 and SC3. They also solely supply the St. Clement's Distribution System again according to the Annual Water Reports.

Are you still with me because I'm not sure that I am? There appears to be two different Heidelberg Distribution Systems. There is the Woolwich Heidelberg Distribution System and the Wellesley Distribution System and they are connected! The 2004 Annual Report for Heidelberg System -220007310 and System 260002850 states clearly that "Heidelberg (Wellesley Township) Distribution System receives its water from the Heidelberg (Woolwich Township) Distribution system through a connection.". Each town has it's own allegedly dedicated wells solely for their own residents and yet there is a connection. WHY?

Being an environmental activist almost necessarily turns one into a political activist as well. Paranoia abounds when one is constantly over decades misdirected and bafflegabbed by our authorities at all levels. If both Heidelberg and St. Clements were free of water quality issues one might conclude that nothing is amiss. That however is not the case. Carefully on foot check out the downtown corner of Heidelberg where the old gas station used to be. It's no secret that the site was/is contaminated from leaking gasoline and or diesel fuel. What I found yesterday seems to go beyond either minor or past contamination. There are TWELVE hard plastic manhole covers, bolted down for security, flush at ground level. They are for access to underground tanks or sumps. It appears to me that we have a pool of gasoline/diesel floating on the surface of the water table. These are called LNAPLS and stand for Light Non Aqueous Phase Liquids. We have a similar problem on the Chemtura site and they say they are unable to remove them. Really? The Heidelberg "problem" seems to be under active remediation and yet Elmira's multi national, multi billion dollar Chemtura corporation to date have been unsucessful.

Numerous questions are raised for me. Are St. Clement's residents drinking Heidelberg water or vice versa? Are the Heidelberg wells (HD1 & 2) still supplying drinking water and should they be especially as the Annual Water Reports don't publish the results of gas & diesel compounds such as Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylenes? Are there any Vapour Intrusion issues with these compounds? In Cambridge Trichloroethylene has volatilized from a liquid to a gas and entered the basements of people's homes. In a nutshell are local citizens being properly informed on these issues or are they being kept routinely in the dark? Let us not forget Walkerton, Bamberg, Elmira and Cambridge. The facts were available to the authorities years before the public had an inkling that they were in severe danger.