EWWG & OTHER UNIROYAL SCAMS

Uniroyal Chemical knew that the very cheap permanent entombment option for the contents of the Envirodome would never fly. Hence after a 1,000 name Petition was initiated by Jan Ebert and Barb Zupko, they decided to get a "concensus". They formed by invitation only the Excavated Wastes Working Group (EWWG) and presented them with only three mediocre options to choose from. 1) Do nothing - ie. permanent entombment 2) landfill the contents of the Envirodome 3) Thermal Desorption which is a sort of incineration. In April 1998 I'm quoted in the Elmira Independent as stating that Uniroyal simply want to be able to share the blame for the final decision with the folks on the committee. I also predicted (correctly) that the final decision for Uniroyal's Chemical wastes would be in a secure landfill.

Ecologic Inc. were never given a proper chance right from the beginning but then in the middle of the EWWG's deliberations something strange happened. Ecologic who had been pushing to be considered, suddenly backed off. They claimed a change in management and stated that they couldn't deal with Uniroyal's wastes at this time. It was bizarre. Was the fix in somehow? Were backroom promises made? We'll probably never know.

On June 7, 1998 the K-W Record wrote an Editorial titled "Don't Wait: Defuse Toxic Time Bomb". They advised on-site Thermal Desorption
because they didn't want to wait longer for Ecologic nor did they want to bury the stuff in someone else's backyard ie. Sarnia/Corunna

On June 17, 1998 there was an Open House in Elmira displaying the various choices , pros and cons. Bob Burtt of the Record wrote up the article and quoted Dr. Henry Regier and Susan Bryant and also had a photo of Glenys McMullen at the Open House.

In the June 15, 1998 Elmira Independent I wrote a Letter To The Editor with the title "Nothing Short Of A Miracle". It was a tongue in cheek article pointing out how according to Uniroyal Chemical the contents of the Envirodome had over time become less toxic waste and more ordinary soil. Uniroyal quoted some ridiculous figure of 95% or so of the contents now being simply soil. I pointed out the past much lower estimates of soil content and suggested that let's leave everything where it is as it is magically decomposing to natural soil right before our eyes.

All in all it was a public relations coup for Uniroyal with only a modest improvement for our local environment. It did nothing good of course for the environment in the Sarnia/Corunna area and will likely have to be dealt with by future generations. They won't thank us for that.