CHEMTURA CANADA CONTINUES TO SET RECORDS FOR WELL SHUTDOWNS

Pollution is like the gift that keeps on giving. It's been twenty-five years since the Elmira wellfields (6-7 wells) were shut down courtesy of Uniroyal/Chemtura. It's been twenty-eight years since the Woolwich Landfill, north of Elmira has been shut down. I'm wondering if the final donation, heaven help us, to this insecure landfill was the cleanup in the mid 80's of numerous pits and ponds around the Uniroyal site including the contents of the west side ponds RPW5-8.

Twenty-five years ago there was a known plume of contaminants extending 900-1100 metres south-east of the Woolwich Landfill. The leading edge of this plume was most likely the inorganics such as Chloride (CL) and Sodium (NA). Following on behind would have been chlorinated ethanes and methanes as well as Benzene and possibly NDMA. Keep in mind that NDMA wasn't allegedly discovered in Elmira's groundwater until 1989. This makes it extremely unlikely that the researchers at the University of Waterloo would have been testing for it throughout the 80's. What do you think is the likelihood even now that the Region of Waterloo and their consultants testing nearby private drinking wells; aren't testing for NDMA?

There are two questions of significance that come to my mind. The first is how far out currently is the inorganics plume and secondly how far extended is the leading edge of the organics? We already know that three wells have been seriously impacted by one of the organics namely 1,1 DCA. I have driven the area and my odometer causes me to worry. There are numerous homes and businesses between 600 and 800 metres east and south of this former landfill. While Seiling Rd. runs along the front of the landfill, Sandy Hills Dr. runs mostly 600-800 metres south of it. Obviously the extreme west end of Sandy Hills Dr. at Arthur St. N. is further away. Noah Rd. on the east side is only 700 metres away at its' north-east corner and perhaps 900 metres away at its' south-east corner. None of this even mentions any flow of contaminated groundwater allegedly upgradient towards the homes on Seiling Rd.(Township Rd. 7).

The Region need to release their Annual Monitoring Reports immediately to all nearby residents, Woolwich Township and interested and capable environmentalists with the ability to quickly read and understand the contents. Anything else is just one more coverup.