MORE ON THURSDAY NIGHTS CPAC MEETING

CPAC have been chasing the Ministry of the Environment for the specific groundwater cleanup criteria that will be required in 2028. George Karlos of the M.O.E. suggested he was working on it however there will be much more urgency as we approach 2028. This did not sit well with Ron Campbell, Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach, Richard Clausi or CPAC Chair Dr. Dan Holt. All four pointed out that the urgency was now if you really think in fourteen years the current mess in the aquifers will be cleaned. To this George then replied he'd have the specifics within six months.

Discussion wandered briefly back to DNAPLS and graham Chevreau asked the M.O.E. if there were any penalties or consequences for Chemtura's failure to proceed with DNAPL cleanup as indicated in the November 4, 1991 Control Order. This had followed Jeff Merriman again pretending that there was concensus on an issue namely putting DNAPLS on the back burner. I pointed out that Chemtura could usually manage to get a supporter or two on CPAC who would agree with them but certainly a number of APTE members back in the 90's including Richard and I (& Esther Thur) never remotely agreed.

Dr. Dan again raised the issue of CPAC's funding request from Chemtura. Dwight Este suggested that it was still on the table even though they (Chemtura) had been delayed.

Vivienne Delaney raised the issues of Responsible Care as well as of Financial Assurance to be paid in trust to the M.O.E. in order to handle cleanup costs down the road. Both Graham and myself joined the conversation with our concerns. George K. stated that the Chemtura/Uniroyal Indemnity was not an impediment to obtaining Financial Assurance. Dwight Este (Chemtura) advised that Responsible Care was still months away and that they did not have clarity yet from the Chemical Industry Assoc. of Canada (CIAC) as to what the format would be regarding community involvement.

Regarding downstream sediment samples taken by the M.O.E. in Canagagigue Creek; the analysis of them continues. Both Graham and Sebastian had comments regarding both that as well as the lack of off-site monitoring south and east of Chemtura's property line. Graham hammered the M.O.E. on eight month to two year wait times for samples suggesting it was all about political will. His decades of experience tells him that when the will is there lab samples can be turned around within 48 hours. Sebastian advised that he was "shocked" with M.O.E. claims about up to a two year wait for lab results. Regarding east side off-site monitoring I publicly asked jeff merriman for any groundwater results they had from well CH57 just off Chemtura's north-east corner.

The M.O.E. presented information regarding their Sediment Assessment framework. it was interesting and advised about factors other than pure chemistry which determined if there were problems. these included impacts on the benthic communities. Both Susanna and graham inquired whether a conclusion had been reached after the first downstream testing in the mid 90's. Ron Campbell commented upon biomagnification issues. Reference was made by Chemtura to an on-site cleanup of the creekbanks in the mid 2000's. George Karlos indicated that the data from the last three summers hopefully will determine if there are still Chemtura sources discharging DDT or Dioxins downstream. Interestingly a M.O.E. rep suggested that they don't comment on human health issues after they were asked about them.

Sebastian inquired about other contaminated drinking water aquifers still being used . I raised points regarding those occurrences in Kitchenr, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph with specific reference to Trichloroethylene (TCE) in numerous Guelph wells. TCE is highly toxic and the cause of horrible health issues including death throughout North America. Susanna somewhat inexplicably stated that there were no wells in southern Ontario that were capable of adhering to the Ontario Drinking Water Standards. She then qualified this by stating that that was due to either hardness of iron in the groundwater. O.K. fair enough.

There was also discussion about the upcoming further scraping of three sites in GP1 to remove more DDT and Dioxins. Chemtura continue to cling to their untenable position that they did either a good or even satisfactory job in GP1 & 2. Richard Clausi pointed out that CPAC's position had been misrepresented at a Grand River Conservation Authority meeting two summers ago. Dr. Dan also commented to that in support of Richard. I further added that Jeff Merriman had been present at that meeting in which CPAC's non support of the GP1 & 2 cleanup had been misrepresented. My inference was very clear that Jeff failed to enlighten the GRCA reps present.

The next public CPAC meeting will be held at 6 pm. in the Woolwich Council Chambers on Thursday September 25, 2014.