AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INCOMING WOOLWICH COUNCIL

You will be asked to make changes to CPAC both by private citizens and by Councillor Mark Bauman. These changes could include major changes to the committee membership or even removing CPAC as a committee of Council. Both of these scenarios will have significant repercussions to the cleanup of both the Elmira Aquifers and the downstream Canagagigue Creek. Lately a couple of CPAC members have advised me that they believe they are seeing a positive change in Mark Bauman's attitude and understanding around Chemtura and M.O.E. intransigence and credibility. On occasion I share that opinion but frankly I believe his political instincts not to antagonize powerful interests undermine his speaking bluntly and forthrightly in opposition to their neverending disinformation.

Yesterday I posted that a couple of major positions taken by the current CPAC have been substantiated and reinforced by more third parties. The position that the 2028 cleanup deadline will not honestly occur was first promulgated and publicized by yours truly in this venue and as a Delegation to CPAC. The current CPAC assisted by three professionals in the field (David Marks hydrogeologist, Ron Campbell Acute Environmental & Dr.Gail Krantzberg McMaster Univ.) studied the issue and concurred. Their 2012 Resolution was unanimously passed (including Mark) and then endorsed by Woolwich Council. The old CPAC, Chemtura, Conestoga Rovers and the M.O.E. all denied it. The M.O.E. appear to have finally come around. The others have not.

It is possible that misinformation in Bob Burtt's recently self published book will be used in an attempt to persuade you to make bad decisions. Let me clarify misinformation coming from totally unqualified or even incompetent sources. Firstly the author Bob Burtt has been retired for close to a decade. He has not attended public CPAC meetings either regularily or at all since 2005 or earlier. Many of his sources are second and third hand. Former M.O.E Director (West Central) Bill Bardswick attended loudly and aggressively two CPAC meetings in the last four years. I believe it was many years prior to that since he last attended CPAC. Wilf Ruland has not shown his face at CPAC in the last four years. Eric Hodgins has attended at least a couple of times. Susan Bryant and Pat Mclean boycotted this CPAC for the first two years. After that the two of them have alternated attendance sporadically. On some occasions Pat made a Delegation to CPAC at the start of the meeting and then immediately departed. These are major sources in Bob's book, several of whom have loudly and emphatically criticized the current CPAC. Shame on them for their dishonesty, disrespect and plain sour grapes towards the current CPAC.

Conestoga Rovers & Associates, Chemtura and George Karlos (M.O.E. pg. 112) give credit to CRA for their "...large scale review completed in 2012.'. This review was released in November 2012, seven months after CPAC's Resolution stating that the 2028 cleanup wasn't going to happen and that source removal was required. CRA's review included incorporating the new idea here in Elmira of using In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO), a form of source removal. The CPAC Minutes reflect that I suggested using ISCO here years ago, after it was used in Cambridge (approx. 2009) to breakdown subsurface trichloroethylene courtesy of Northstar Aerospace. I believe that CRA with M.O.E. & Chemtura prodding introduced their plan as a face saving device. In the alternative the current CPAC were still well ahead of the other parties who vigorously denounced CPAC's Resolution then and now.

Past and current Woolwich Councils have made huge mistakes concerning the Chemtura file. Consulting only limited parties with either limited knowledge and expertise or with axes to grind will compound those errors.