BACK TO THE "GAP", THE "STROH DRAIN" AND THE "SINK"

Geology is the study of the physical earth, its' core, its' plates, its' rocks and soils. Hydrogeology refers to the study of water below the ground's surface ie. groundwater. Topography refers to the surface elevation of the ground. In other words the height above sea level of hills, valleys and everything in between. Topography basically determines for example the location and flow direction of surface water ie. creeks, rivers and streams. They run through lowlying surface areas from source (higher areas) to discharge into lower areas such as other rivers, lakes or finally the ocean.

We have received over the last three decades very few topographical maps of the Uniroyal/Chemtura site. Those few times that we have had elevation (contour) lines in metres above sea level (masl) on site maps the contour lines have strictly ended at the company's property lines. That said there have been two relatively recent exceptions. Peter Gray of MTE Consulting provided CPAC with an excellent one as did Conestoga Rovers in their reports on the GP1 & 2 remediation. What a revelation they both were.

Jeff Merriman of Chemtura (now retired) attempted to misdirect and deceive us at a TAG meeting earlier this year by suggesting that the approximately 170 metre area that was not sampled along their south-eastern property line (ie. the "Gap") was because it was high ground and surface wastewaters could not have flowed in that direction. Nonsense. Many months earlier he had advised CPAC that the area was a former wetland and I had agreed then added that it was a "former" wetland because the manmade "Stroh Drain" had done its' job and drained it. The topographical maps confirm this is a very low area on the Chemtura site which essentially drains surface runoff including historical wastewaters from their east side pits (RPE1-5) over on to their neighbour's property namely the Stroh farm.

Once across the property line historically these surface waters and wastewaters ponded in an even lower swampy area on the Stroh farm. This area has an elevation of only 345 metres above sea level, much lower than the high nearby gravel ridge which runs diagonally in a NW to SE orientation from Chemtura over onto the Stroh property. This lowlying former swampy area has also been drained by the construction of the Stroh Drain around 1985. I call this area the "Sink". It makes sense that as Uniroyal wastewaters all flowed south both naturally as well as by swales and furrows they would not have primarily flowed into the alleged location of GP1 but rather south-eastwards into the "Sink". GP1 is almost totally blocked from surface flow by the high diagonal ridge of gravel which has topographical contour lines of 346.5 at the bottom rising to 348.5- 349 metres above sea level.

I use the word "Sink" in reference to carbon sinks. Trees and plants are known as carbon sinks or in other words they accumulate carbon and store it. This area on the Stroh property is most likely a sink storing Dioxins, DDT and even P.C.B.s. These hydrophobic compounds were mobilized by wastewaters from the east side pits containing solvents. Most solvents will dissolve and mobilize hydrophobic compounds. Later the solvents either evaporated or moved downwards through the ground's surface leaving the hydrophobic (water avoiding) compounds attached to soil particles. Since 1985 heavy storms will have eroded and washed some of these compounds into the Drain where it flows southwards until it discharges into the Canagagigue Creek. Without proper remediation this area will be a decades to centuries long source of Dioxins/Furans, DDT and P.C.B.s to the environment both on the Stroh site and to life in the Canagagigue Creek.