COUNCILLOR MARK BAUMAN PUBLICLY CLARIFYS HIS POSITION REGARDING CPAC

Tuesday evening on Rogers Cable #20 "Talk Local" Mark Bauman did just that. He was interviewed by a Mary Cranston who did a very good job and had clearly done her homework ahead of time. Sans Editorial comment by me, here is what Mark had to say...oops first a reminder. If you want to see this show for yourself it is showing again this Saturday morning at 6 am. on Rogers Cable TV. Channel #20.

Mark referred to 1989/90 as a nightmare for Elmira residents. He was specifically asked by Ms. Cranston to clarify his CPAC is "dysfunctional" comments that were quoted in the Waterloo Region Record, which he did. Mark unequivocally stated that the only dysfunctional part is the Ministry of Environment and Chemtura's non-attendance at public CPAC meetings. He praised both the individual professional environmental experts on CPAC as well as specifically mentioning the credentials of others including a Registered Nurse, academic credentials etc..

Mark suggested that there were probably hundreds of chemicals in the Elmira groundwater including NDMA, Dioxins, Agent Orange etc.. He also mentioned that NDMA was carcinogenic. Mark advised Ms. Cranston and the audience that Woolwich Council were working with the M.O.E. to get them back to the CPAC table. Ms. Cranston asked Mark if he felt the 2028 groundwater cleanup deadline was likely. He stated that as per the current results, no it was not. Testing for additional methods of remediation (ISCO-In Situ Chemical Oxidation) were not giving optimistic results. Mark also stated that additional on-site contamination sources were being found which was bad news. Finally Mark emphasized that he felt an independent third party peer review was needed.

Mark is very correct regarding the third party peer review. My words not Mark's is that the current environmental regulatory system in this province is horribly flawed. Client driven technical reports by very well paid consultants are the rule not the exception.