KITCHENER'S SECOND COAL TAR SCANDAL

As briefly mentioned earlier the 25 year old lawsuit filed by CN Railway against the City of Kitchener and Hogg Fuel & Supply was dismissed last month in the Superior Court of Justice (presumably in Kitchener). Although not named as a party to the suit, Parks Canada was involved I believe via the former home of Mackenzie King down on Wellington St.. It has been open and closed in recent years due to alleged coal tar waste entering the basement of the house.

This whole scenario has been a farce and a charade at the least for twenty-five years as the moving and dumping of coal tar wastes from the former downtown Kitchener (Gaukel St.) Gasworks occurred closer to sixty years ago. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment had issued a Control Order for the cleanup of the coal tar found on CN Railway's property in or around 1989. The parties readily admitted that they were involved in a collaborative effort through the hiring of consultants in order to keep the M.O.E. at bay. Ten consultants' reports were delivered to the parties including a proposed remedial action plan. The M.O.E. over the years was mollified with site specific risk assessments along with remediation proposals. Unfortunately after years of delay by all parties the consultants advised their clients that their work had become outdated and needed to be refreshed.

So who is responsible for this abuse of process both legal and environmental? The M.O.E. got the ball rolling by ordering a cleanup and then apparently sat on their hands for 25 years while CN, Hogg and the City of Kitchener played legal games. Our judicial system played their part as well. NO wonder our courts are so clogged when parties are allowed to stickhandle around and through the courts simply to keep M.O.E. Control orders at bay literally for a quarter of a century. Indeed it would seem obvious that the City not CN nor Hogg Fuel are responsible for the transfer of coal tar waste to an insecure location on Lancaster St.. The fact that their lawyers felt it was acceptable and cheaper to delay cleanup for all intents and purposes forever via manipulation of the judicial system is shameful. The other two parties consented to the vast majority of the delays so they too bear some responsibility. Most blame however must rest with both the provincial Ministry in charge of our courts (Attorney General?) and with the provincial Ministry of the Environment. We pay taxes through the nose and what we get are paperwork and manipulation going in circles for 25 years. What a disgusting joke that we taxpayers have to pay for this nonsense. Meanwhile the coal tar mess is still in the ground unremediated.