CHEMTURA'S "TOILET SEAT" REMEDIATION CONTINUES

We've often heard the complaint that we are trying to hit a moving target. In other words a government bureaucracy or an on the job boss keep chamging the quota, the goals and or deadlines. In the case of Chemtura Canada in Elmira, Ontario it's much the same. They have been promising , promising and promising restoration of the Elmira Aquifers to drinking water standards via hydraulic containment by 2028. They have a Target pumping rate for each and every off the Chemtura site well, since 1998. The poor folks have been dealing with that Target rate changing on an ongoing basis. At the same time they have for the last two years been promising that they were going to triple the total pumping rate of all their off-site wells. At least that is until last month at the public CPAC meeting when Jeff Merriman of Chemtura suddenly verbally advised us that well maybe they will only double it versus tripling the pumping rate. As if that was only of minor significance reducing their promise from tripling to only doubling.

At one time the total Target pumping rate for all their off-site wells was 64.5 litres per second. This was for wells W3, W4, W5A, W5B, and E7. Then the Target rate for all five off-site wells was reduced to 53.1 l/sec. The latest revision for these wells has further reduced their target pumping rate to 45.6 l/sec. Thus while promising huge pumping increases to CPAC and the public they are lowering their Target rates.

Meanwhile their excuses are literally neverending. This broke down, that requires rehabillatation and this electrical system has a fault and it never ends. September's off-site pumping is another prize winner. June and July were respectively 40.9 and 47.5 l/sec but September was 36.1 l/sec. This is the second worst total pumping rate in the last three years. Keep in mind that the pumping Targets keep declining and they still can not consistently meet them. This has been the history of pump and treat (hydraulic containment) since January 1992. Chemtura's promises are wind and their off-site pumping is up and down like a toilet seat.