AN ODE TO PAT POTTER & ESTHER THUR

Esther Thur is best known for her efforts in collecting and maintaining the Uniroyal file at the Elmira library for many years. After her death the newspaper clippings and technical reports were sent to the library at Wilfred Laurier University. Somewhere in the process, her work, the vast bulk of which was done after she left APT Environment in 1994, was named the APTE collection. It is no such thing. It is the Esther Thur collection and she did the work on behalf of the citizens of Elmira and Woolwich Township. She sure as hell did not do it for the greater glory of Sylvia Berg or to enhance the Saga of Susan, which is how Dr. Henry Regier has characterized Bob Burtt's recent literary masterpiece.

Pat Potter was a sucessful and forthright environmentalist who lived her life dedicated to the cause. It was Pat and her husband Chuck who padlocked Uniroyal's gates two decades plus ago. It was Pat who coined the expression "The Uniroyal Trials". She believed that the time would come when owners and managers would be legally held accountable for the damage they had done to the Canagagigue Creek, Grand River, Elmira aquifers and all life within them.

Right now both Esther and Pat are smiling. It has taken twenty-five years of hard work, frustration and team work to get to where we are today. The frustration arises of course not just from the lying, deceit and manipulation of guilty parties including government parties but from the backstabbing and infighting practiced for two decades by a pair of citizens. Both Pat and Esther knew and advised me and others about who to look out for early on. So did Dr. Henry Regier. I simply did not want to believe that they were right all along. Well ladies when you are manipulating behind the scenes with no opposition, it's pretty easy to have your way. How much fun have you had the last five years after more people have learned what you are?

Chemtura's and the Ontario M.O.E.'s credibility are at rock bottom. They have been exposed as morally empty bags of hot air. The M.O.E. have enabled the joke of a "cleanup" to proceed and wasted two decades of time to really do a proper job. They have deceived and misled using technical consultants to bafflegab and confuse serious citizen concerns and criticisms. No longer will their psuedoscience and outright horse manure fly in this town. Rest easy Esther and Pat. Your battles and efforts have not been wasted. We are still here and we and the truth are winning.