VARNICOLOR CHEMICAL UNDER MORE REMEDIATION

The past just continues to haunt those who lie and deceive. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (M.O.E.) wrote a Control Order to clean up the old Varnicolor site on Union St. in Elmira and it contained the phrase "...a full aereal and vertical investigation...". The M.O.E. did this amidst huge public pressure which even included various media outlets calling for an investigation into M.O.E. corruption at the time. Myself, Rich Clausi and Ted Oldfield were constantly publicly humiliating them. I had an inside senior person at Varnicolor supplying me with information, literally on a daily basis. Whether it was secret M.O.E. raids (May 17/90) on Varnicolor , buried road tankers at the main site hooked up to their floor drain or even 45 gallon buried drums; I knew about it and the M.O.E. denied it publicly, only to be exposed as corrupt liars over and over again.

The M.O.E. never did the vertical investigation. I have since learned enough about DNAPLS (dense non aqueous phase liquids) to know why. Varnicolor contributed to the destruction of Elmira's drinking water aquifers. Their chemicals were in the south wellfield long before it was shut down. Simialrily will we ever know how long carcinogenic NDMA was in the south wellfield before it was first tested for and discovered? Currently the newest owners of Varnicolor are attempting to obtain a Record of Site Condition. It is my belief that the M.O.E. will require slightly more cleanup only prior to so issuing that document. They did a massive excavation twenty years ago albeit a shallow one. They have been pumping and treating the so called surficial aquifer on that site for twenty years. They have been studiously ignoring and praying that the deeper contamination including DNAPLS have moved off site and mingled with Chemtura's (Uniroyal) mess. From what limited evidence is available this seems to have happened. As of yesterday I saw the beginnings of more cleanup including a drilling rig on site. The M.O.E. have been asked by the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC)for updates and details on these most recent remediation plans. The M.O.E. however have never felt themselves accountable to the public until or unless they figuratively have a gun held to their heads. Keep in mind CPAC's mandate includes assisting in getting Elmira's Aquifers restored to drinking water standards by 2028. This is difficult when the M.O.E. refuse to provide information about other known polluters sitting atop those very same Elmira Aquifers.