DRINKING WATER SOURCE PROTECTION

Today's Waterloo Region Record on page A5 has a Notice advising Public Consultation for the Draft DWSP Plan for the Grand River watershed. I have commented here in the past about this mandated program which the province of Ontario passed down to the lower tiers of government in Ontario as well as to the Conservation Authorities.

The public meetings both for learning and commenting run from Monday September 17/12 in Grand Valley and go until Monday September 24/12 in Waterloo (1010 Erb's Rd.). The nearest ones to Woolwich Township would be in Guelph on September 18/12 at City Hall, Room 112, 1 Carden St.. Secondly would be on September 19 in Fergus at Wellington County Museum and Archives, Wellington Rd. 18. Finally of course the Waterloo location is fairly close to Woolwich Township residents. All meetings are from 7-9 pm. .

The Draft Source Protection Plan is available on the internet at www.sourcewater.ca . I have read major technical parts of it extensively and been impressed. There is very good information there which all residents of the Grand River watershed should have at least some basic understanding of. "The goal of the plan is to protect the sources of municipal drinking water in the Grand River watershed". This is a worthy goal and indeed positive steps are and have been undertaken. The problem is that this initiative came about after the Walkerton tragedy and is about one century too late. Even without ever increasing understanding of groundwater and contaminants within it, commonsense and old knowledge should have been employed at the turn of the twentieth century. It was not and the legacy of industrial dumping and on-site disposal of toxic wastewaters and sludges, continues to haunt us . Add to that the litany of leaking gas stations across our watershed (and every other one) and you have the mess we have today. Various old industrial sites are being remediated with little or no public oversight. Even here in Elmira it is stunning how the Ministry of the Environment have reverted back to their old position of denying access to groundwater reports and data. Twenty years ago when you requested data on the old Varnicolor sites they would publicly promise unfettered access. Now even though it is the same public groundwater being impacted their answer is far too often, we'll see or file a Freedom of Information request.

The other major problem with this whole exercise is the intentional deviousness of continuing to keep citizens uninformed. Our authorities know full well where the industrial skeletons are buried and which ones received little or no cleanup. The only possible way to avoid a massively expensive pipeline to Lake Erie and then to avoid massively expensive treatment facilities for that water is to begin one by one , real cleanups of these sites. To present they are left until redeveloped such as the one between Margaret Ave. and St. Ledger St. in Kitchener or they are given the pump and treat "cleanup". This nonsense has recently been soundly rejected by the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) and their Resolution unanimously endorsed by Woolwich Council. Pump and treat otherwise known as hydraulic containment does not effectively or realistically clean up sites. It does slow the natural leakage and downgradient dilution of contaminants. It is heartily endorsed by polluters, their consultants and regulaters (M.O.E.). All old contaminated sites should be named and pinpointed for the public's enlightenment. This has been studiously avoided by these Source Protection plans. This whole exercise is undermined by this omission and deception.