COMMUNITY (PRAT)FALL DAY THIS SATURDAY

Man if those buggers could only sell brass, crass, chutzpah and bullshit they could stop manufacturing chemical products yesterday. The above title refers to a card I received in the mail yesterday; advertising A "COMMUNITY FALL DAY" at Chemtura this Saturday from noon till 3 pm.. "...free food and activities for the whole family". Honest to goodness, based on their track record I surely hope that St. John's Ambulance, firefighters and paramedics are out in full force this Saturday. I say this based on Chemtura's uncanny ability over the last two decades plus, to shoot themselves in the foot at the most (in)appropriate times.

Does anyone forget the fugitve air emissions of BLE-25 late in September 2010; just a few weeks prior to the municipal elections? How about the "pink spill" of Toluene? How about fire after fire? Anyone remember the chlorine cloud they released over Elmira? What's hopefully going to happen is that it being a Saturday with guests arriving, that they are bright enough to shut down their production for the day. Just don't count on it. I and others have toured the facilities before only to be greeted with strong chemical odours that our plant guides literally can't smell anymore. They've been exposed to the odours for so long that they no longer even notice them. Scary!

The bottom line is that Chemtura and fellow travellors (M.O.E. etc.) are hurting. They are taking a shellacking at public CPAC meetings, in the media and privately at the provincial level. Saturday's festivities are a desperate attempt to shore up their support locally, including getting verified under *Responsible Care by CIAC (Chemical Industry Assoc'n of Canada). Heck if they were offerring beer, nose plugs and a respirator they might even convince me to show up.