THE PLAYERS ALL KNEW THE CRISIS WAS COMING

It was no surprise. For a decade Uniroyal Chemical had Morrison & Beatty engineering and technical consultants on retainer. They had monitoring wells installed and hydrogeological reports written describing the aquifers beneath Uniroyal and Elmira. They understood that there was a direct hydrogeological connection between both the north and south wellfield and Uniroyal's property. In 1990 there were discussions at the Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) regarding NDMA air emissions at Uniroyal having been going on for thirty years. In 1977 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment tested for and found massive concentrations of NDMA in Uniroyal's waste water being sent to the Elmira Sewage Treatment Plant. Of course that information was kept confidential and apparently didn't upset the M.O.E. enough to put a halt to it. It kind of indicates the hypocrisy of having an entire months long EAB hearing over waste water discharges in 1990 that were lower in concentrations than was discovered in 1977.

In 1984 the Ontario M.O.E. laid their first Control Order on Uniroyal. During the 1980s there was significant cleanup and removal of wastewater lagoons on the Uniroyal site. Some wastes were removed and sent off-site to allegedly secure landfills. We have been advised recently that a former Chemtura employee stated on the record that Uniroyal knew full well a decade before the 19889 Elmira crisis that their toxins had left their property and that the Elmira drinking wells were at risk. Finally after checking I've confirmed that the pipeline from Waterloo to Elmira was actually completed within a year of the November 1989 shut down of the south wellfield. How is that possible considering things like property acquisition, environmental assessments etc. unless those steps had been planned long in advance?

The only ones surprised by the Elmira water crisis were the citizens long kept in the dark. The lies and misinformation have never stopped and the provincial government via their Ministry of Environment are up to their eyeballs in it.