CPAC RULES: "NOW IT TURNS OUT THE ACTIVISTS WERE RIGHT"

Well, well, well. That two faced, flipflopping Councillor Mark Bauman has done it again. First of all he is quoted in the media calling CPAC "dysfunctional" roughly a year and a half ago. Then, par for the course, he jumps in front of the parade the instant the media and public opinion change direction. The Waterloo Region Record published a front page headline story a week ago Friday titled "Chemtura starts off-site chemical probe". Yesterday the Record's own Editorial was titled "Get serious about Elmira cleanup". They state "how can it be that nearly 40 years - two generations - is not enough time for the company to complete a cleanup so necessary to public health and safety?". It sure looks as if the Record have grasped the ridiculousness, stalling and delays that have been never ending by Chemtura and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

Mark Bauman and Sandy Shantz scapegoated CPAC nearly two years ago as the cause of disharmony at the public advisory committee meetings. The disharmony however was the result of Chemtura and the M.O.E.'s incessant lying, disinformation, deflection and stalling. Sandy either did not know or care about the truth. Mark knew the truth full well as he attended most public CPAC meetings. Sandy and Mark then had the unmitigated brass and nerve to team up with Susan Bryant and Pat Mclean and lied like rugs at the April 9/15 pretend "stakeholders" meeting in the Woolwich Township building. They along with Chemtura and the M.O.E. lied to the Region of Waterloo, Grand River Conservation Authority and others at that private, by invitation only (Sandy's), meeting. Well the chickens are coming home to roost for both the professional and the amateur liars.

The Record are calling for a precise timetable for cleaning up the creek. They are NOT asking for another stupid, self-serving Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA). They are asking that whatever it takes, the Elmira Aquifers will be clean by 2028. That means far more than the current, glacier like speed of pump and treat. The Waterloo Region Record have publicly acknowledged that CPAC knew what they were talking about both in 2012 regarding the impossibility of the 2028 deadline and in 2014 regarding the off-site contamination onto the Stroh farm. Quoting the Record "Now, it turns out the activists were right." News flash: the activists have always been right, often even those who lost their way decades ago by making private deals with Chemtura and the M.O.E. over DNAPLS and other issues. Yes they were wrong on DNAPLS and yes they were wrong to assist Chemtura by undermining their environmental colleagues. Eternal shame on them for that and more.

Yesterday's posting here was all about my disappointment with our local newspaper apparently egregiously ignoring this huge and vitally important issue. I mentioned all the media coverage of late including last week's front page Record article as well as CKCO-TV and 570 Radio. Well add to that yesterday's Record Editorial which I didn't read until after I had posted yesterday. Woolwich Observer if you have a valid reason for ignoring this important public matter then please tell us. If you can't or won't tell us then at least fix whatever the problem is that is preventing you from doing your professional, journalistic duties regarding the ongoing chemical contamination in our creek and groundwater.