THE WOOLWICH MUSHROOM TREATMENT KEEPS RESIDENTS IN THE DARK

So for thirty-four years Woolwich Township has felt that they did not have an obligation to advise neighbours that a) they were living beside a landfill site and b) there was methane gas being generated by the landfill at explosive levels and c) the methane collection system quit working after fourteen years and still hasn't been replaced.

Last Monday morning I distributed a Notice to High St,. Charles St. and George St. residents advising them that I would be speaking this Tuesday as a Delegate to Woolwich Council regarding methane gas issues at the Bolender Park Landfill. Lo and behold two days later, on Wednesday July 26, Woolwich Staff then distributed their own Letter advising residents of the problem or at least part of the problem. Credit goes to the Township for at last, belatedly, telling residents that there are "elevated methane levels" at the west end of the Landfill near Arthur St..

The problem with methane is that it dos not flow underground in an easily predictable direction, unlike groundwater for example. The other obvious problem is that unlike groundwater, methane is explosive. Homes were abandoned around the Ottawa St. Landfill in Kitchener back in the 1970s just after the Bolender Landfill was closed.

One item to point out is that the Letter from Woolwich Staff incorrectly suggested that Mr. Frank Rattasid may have been in touch with your households regarding methane problems in the Landfill. In fact my reference in my Notice last Monday to a "colleague" in the neighbourhood possibly attending Council with me; was referring to Dr. Dan Holt not to Mr. Rattasid.

While there may be some other small problems in the Township's Letter nevertheless overall I welcome the Township stepping up and giving residents some insight into potential problems requiring due diligence on both the Township's part as well as the resident's part.