WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP METHANE FACE SAVING

Wow, the Sandy Shantz municipal council really are paranoid, hysterical and dysfunctional. Phew I've shaken off my Christmas euphoria in which I said two nice things about her majesty. O.K. so the entire council are not paranoid, hysterical or dysfunctional just some of them. Let's count our blessings. Mr. Hahn is not on council. Ms. Herteis is not on council and lastly Mr. Flip Flop (Mr. Bauman) is not on council. Oh heck let's expand on that. Ms. McLean, Todd Cowan, Ms. Bryant all are not on council although with Ms. Bryant it's an academic exercise as she no longer lives in Woolwich and is not a Canadian citizen if you can believe it. Perhaps Mr. Cowan is also an academic exercise because of the single criminal conviction he obtained. I think that may disqualify him from running although I'm really not certain.

That first paragraph and its' brief expansion are all as a result of the news that I posted here last month regarding the new methane probe installed at the north edge of Bolender Park. That issue concerning three and a half decades of methane probes on the east (a few), west side of the landfill (a lot), a few on the north side and none on the south side is about to be (sort of) addressed. After all methane monitoring, to be done correctly, requires consistency and regularity; both totally lacking since the start of monitoring in 1983. It's no wonder that nobody knows what the hell they are doing with the sporadic, inconsistent and contradictory data they have obtained to date.

Woolwich council refused to answer fourty researched, relevant and clear questions submitted by me in writing to them over a year ago, to their shame. Instead they and their trained lap dog (CAO) came up with the most pathetic excuse imaginable to deny me and the public important information on this both public and private, potentially life threatening issue. Winter is upon us and if the ground freezes and becomes snow covered then the methane generated by the long buried garbage will be migrating laterally (horizontally) once again. There is a business on the north and west sides (Elmira Pet Products and #86 Auto & Metal Recycling) with homes on the east side (High & George St.) and the park on the south side. Granted Bolender Park in the winter thankfully is pretty empty but if as now appears likely there is any garbage at all under the park itself then methane could still be discharging upwards during the summer months when the park is filled with children.

Therefore the first south side monitoring well is a good thing but truly incredible that council and staff denied the need publicly either tacitly or explicitly, then go ahead and do it on the downlow. They are far too worried about appearing incompetent or negligent when they should simply be responding to well founded citizen concerns.