BURIED LIQUID TOXIC WASTES IN GUELPH

The more things change the more they stay the same. Landfills in Ontario have been banned from accepting liquid toxic wastes probably from at least the mid 80's and yet every now and then up they pop. Examples have included the Ottawa St. Landfill in Kitchener and of course Varnicolor's infamous Lot 91 in Elmira was an illegal landfill with dozens of barrels of solvents (& PCB's) being unearthed.

Last Saturday's Waterloo Region Record carried this story plus two others "Ooze from barrels unearthed in Guelph identified". Eight barrels buried two metres below the surface were discovered on the north side of Wellington St. , just east of the Hanlon Expressway. The drums have now been identified as containing toluene and xylene which are very commonly used solvents in industry. The area apparently was a former landfill which therefore should hardly make the discovery terribly surprising. The former landfill was unearthed as a result of water mains and sewer pipes being installed in the area. An earlier story suggested that the Sterling Rubber Company was located nearby and the inference was that they may originally have been the source of the solvents in the drums.