ODE TO GEORGEOUS GEORGE

First off let's be clear. I didn't think terribly highly of George Karlos, Ministry of the Environment employee, and the feelings were mutual. That said George whether intentionally or not has done two things very well. He has assisted the environment by his plan to "reassure" Elmira and Woolwich residents by doing further testing in the Canagagigue Creek starting in 2012 and finishing off (God only knows) in 2017. Secondly I believe that singlehandedly, almost, he has exposed the Ontario M.O.E.'s negligence and gross incompetence. He actually thought that the results for testing for only two chemicals, DDT and Dioxins, would be reassuring to us. What an idjit.

Regardless the results have been very bad over the last five years with consistent exceedances of both chemicals in the sediments of the creek, pretty much wherever they looked. That of course is part of the problem and part of the scam in the first place. George knew he was in trouble right from the very first results coming back. To put it mildly he opened up a real can of worms. Whether or not he was a long term mole secretly plotting to expose M.O.E. corrupt practices; they sure got rid of him in a hurry when things went south. Where he is now no one knows but it sure as hell isn't anywhere near Elmira, Ontario.

George didn't like me because I did the reading, the research and put in the effort necessary to understand both the big picture as well as the details. Secondly I then reported here as accurately and honestly as possible which of course often made his employer look awful. Sigh.... I didn't care much for George primarily after the fact. Yes he rubbed me the wrong way albeit only mildly in his position as Acting/Assistant ? Director. After the fact, finding out about his attempts to remove the best informed and most senior activist associated with CPAC and SWAT, hardly endeared me to him.

The 2017 Canagagigue Creek Sediment and Floodplain Soil Investigation is very bad news. The percentages of both soil and sediment samples tested for Dioxins and DDT that are above criteria whether ecological or human health are ridiculous. Pages 16 and 17 of the report have Tables 6.1 and 6.2 and respectively are "Summary of Soil Sample Results" and "Summary of Sediment Sample Results". These Tables show the total number of samples in each area tested and then the number of those samples which were above DDD, DDE, DDT and finally Dioxin Total TEQ which stands for Toxic Equivalency. DDD and DDE are of course breakdown products of DDT the famous/infamous insecticide. The Dioxins are an unwanted contaminant found in trichlorophenols which were a raw material used in the herbicide 2,4,5-T which was mixed with 2,4-D to produce Agent Orange, the also infamous defoliant used in Vietnam and elsewhere including Ontario and nearby here.

I will be studying this report in much more detail over the next little while before reporting back in greater detail.