DISAPPOINTMENT SPRINGS ETERNAL

Acting on a tip received recently I went digging through the Ontario Ministry of the Environment's website. Particularily I was looking for Records of Site Condition dealing with a residential development directly across Church St. here in Elmira from where I live. The Development is known as the Lunor Subdivision and is primarily being built on decades/centuries old farmland. In fact I briefly worked at a local company with the one farmer who sold his land to Lunor. My disgust for the Ministry of the Environment has been further refreshed with statements in the Record of Site Condition suggesting that these are public documents readily accessible to the public. Really? The fellow who first spotted these while surfing couldn't find them again while he was telling me about them. After I found them I immediately printed them off for fear of also not being able to find my way back to them.

There is no industry per se in my neighbourhood and a huge part of my choosing this neighbourhood was to be upwind and a long way away from Chemtura and the east side industries. Across from me is Elmira Farm Service. Less surprising to me now is that they are in the process of relocating further westward along Floradale Rd.. I've been advised that they rented/leased their property versus outright owning it. Well it turns out that along with some other minor concerns expressed by the consulting company is their very matter of fact repeated references to the known contamination at Elmira Farm Service. The gist of it seems to be the use of oils, greases and fuels for servicing agricultural machinery over a long period of time. In one breath the consultants (R.J. Burnside) state that these contaminants are not migrating off-site and in the next breath they are describing a storm drain carrying petroleum hydrocarbons to the east off-site where they discharge into a field. All very curious.

The second parcel of land that Lunor acquired (the west parcel) is also farmland and a concern mentioned was a 60 litre spill of hydrochloric acid upgradient in the past. No particular source is attributed to this spill.

Back to EFS (Elmira Farm Service) I at first thought that references to a waste disposal site due north close to Larch's Creek was their doing. Further reading, while still not terribly clear or specific, is making me believe that this may simply have been household/farm wastes from the eastern parcel (90 Church St.). Of interest is the current excavations going on well within site of the Kissing Bridge Trail and Larch's Creek that seem to correspond with the map showing this waste disposal site. The last tidbit in reference to EFS is the consultant's very clear statement that the contaminated drainage ditch flow onto Lunor property must be stopped. Clearly that has happened. While both the direction of groundwater flow and any possible vapours from it seem to have missed us; I can say that I am disappointed. I expected more and better from my neighbour.