CHEMTURA/ MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT COUNTER-ATTACK FAILS

Last evening in Woolwich Council, environmental history was made again. Woolwich Council rose to the occasion, stood up and sent a loud and clear message to the province of Ontario, M.O.E. and to rogue polluting industries: Enough is Enough. The time for talk, bantering, obfuscation, delay and psuedo science is over. The citizens of Woolwich Township as represented by the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) have had enough bullshit and other hot air pollutants spewed forth by Chemtura, Conestoga Rovers and the Ministry of Excuses and Corporate Collusion (M.O.E.C.C.), to last a lifetime. CPAC through their Chair, Dr. Dan Holt, presented a Resolution to Council which unequivocally condemned the behaviour including inaction of Chemtura and their various partners in pollution. This inaction specifically is in relation to their gross failure to examine and investigate off-site contamination of soils, groundwater and surface water emanating from their multiple former eastern toxic waste pits. As one CPAC member has stated the company have used their neighbour's wetlands and property as their own personal toxic leachate bed. They have done this with reckless and wanton disregard for the environment and human health of nearby downstream inhabitants.

CPAC's Resolution with Council's endorsement is demanding that the province of Ontario through their own Environment Ministry follow the laws of the land regarding the protection and conservation of the natural environment. Woolwich Council through their support and endorsement of this Resolution will be forwarding this Resolution to Glen Murray, Minister of the Environment, Gord Miller Environmental Commissioner, the Region of Waterloo, our local M.P. and M.P.P. as well as to all municipalities in Ontario.

CPAC and SWAT members were out in force last evening both to support Dr. Holt as well as to let the Council know the seriousness and gravity of the situation. Yours truly spoke as a last minute Delegation in support of Dr. Holt and CPAC's Resolution. I also clearly advised Council that both the M.O.E.'s and Chemtura's last minute e-mails requesting Woolwich Council to delay their vote, were entirely predictable and typical delay and stall tactics by Team Chemtura. Their combined claims that they were uninformed and had been blindsided by the issue of contaminants leaving their eastern and southern boundaries was categorically rejected by myself including advising of the absence of both e-mail authors at the last public CPAC meeting. I then spoke to the years of debate and discussion around the south-east corner pits GP1 & 2 as well as the months of discussion around "The Drain" running parallel to their eastern property border which drains both their wetlands and their neighbour's into the Canagagigue Creek.

Honourable mention goes to Vivienne Delaney, Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach, Ron Campbell, Graham Chevreau, Rich Clausi and Mark Bauman. Councillor Bauman continues to drive me crazy as right up until his last sentence I didn't know if he was going to support the Resolution or not. He did so and he did so extremely well. Woolwich CAO David Brenneman also deserves congratulations for his clear and concise advice to Council on the issue. This CPAC and this Council have acquitted themselves admirably regarding the Chemtura file and Elmira Aquifers. Further congratulations go to Peter Gray of MTE Consultants whose Draft Report has condensed and focused so many previous technical documents into one reasoned argument for long overdue action .