ADVANCED DECEPTION TECHNIQUES

MOE, Lanxess, GHD and other assorted dishonest characters hide behind QPs (qualified persons) attending allegedly "technical" meetings. This is solely to eliminate informed citizens such as CPAC members and myself from fully participating in public consultation with the MOE (MECP) and Lanxess. They also hide behind a variety of computer files (Excell, PDF, Zip) in order to eliminate again environmentally informed citizens who are not fully computer conversant. It is also a form of age discrimination. Both my kids (in their 30s) and my wife who is ten years younger than I are able to open all the various files. Similarly I'm sure that anyone my age who used a computer regularly at work has no difficulty with them. I do, despite actually working as a computer operator back in the 1970s. Then I had no exposure to them for the next twenty years or so. I may have missed the odd update/upgrade in the interim.

So I have right from the beginning thirty years ago asked for and received all data in hard copy whether multi volume Annual Monitoring Reports, monthly Progress Reports etc. However now some brain trust has decided to throw one more roadblock in the path of honest, open public consultation. Provide the data in a different language ie. computer files that I can't open. Real subtle!

THIRTY YEARS OF DENIAL AND STALLING

"Close examination of Figure 3 of the report (see
Appendix C) labelled "Groundwater Flow - Lined Pit Area"
reveals that shallow groundwater flow from the pits is
toward the east in addition to south and west. The
easterly component of flow, given the fact that the pits
leak, likely causes, or will cause contamination beyond
the Uniroyal property limits in the shallow aquifer."


This above quote is taken from the April 1990 Ministry of Environment Survey of Uniroyal Chemical written by hydrogeologist Bob Hillier. It is in reference to the two east pits namely RPE-4 and RPE-5. Despite this knowledge physical remediation of the Stroh farm on Uniroyal's east side only began this past December 2018 with surficial soil removal (5.9 inches deep) and steep resistance by Lanxess and GHD to seriously examine and investigate the Stroh Drain area sediments, soils and waters.

In November 2012 Chemtura and Conestoga Rovers confirmed that much greater effort was needed to achieve drinking water standards in the Elmira Aquifers by 2028. These efforts included a tripling of the volume of groundwater pumped and treated as well as the application of In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO) in selected locations around Elmira. Those promises were later reduced to a doubling of the pump and treat along with the application of ISCO. To date the pump & treat system has been increased by approximately 17%.

Embarrassing details such as these are part of the reason that our local politicians (Sandy & Mark) cleaned house of the last CPAC who were the citizens who insisted that Chemtura/Lanxess remediate the Stroh property and who instigated the public understanding that the 2028 promise of restored local drinking water was merely wind and puffery.

LANXESS PROMISES TO TAG FROM THE JANUARY 24, 2019 MEETING & MINUTES

These following commitments from Lanxess Canada are found on page 3 of the January 24, 2019 Minutes. They will provide historical imagery to help determine what the "linear features" (alleged Interceptor Trenches) are that show up on numerous maps, satellite and aerial photos. They will provide the CRA report of any soil sampling that was done in the forested area near the "Gap" in the 1990s. They will provide the more specific data of the soil sampling done in "Gap" areas SS-20 and SS-21. In other words I expect to see the raw data of each individual sample prior to producing their composite samples consisting of ten or eleven soil samples combined together which averages the highest concentrations downwards. TAG also requested that the map to be handed out includes the topography from the Stroh Drain area immediately east of the Lanxess property line. As well the borehole log from OW-14 located nearby will be provided along with soil results taken in 2003 allegedly near the "Gap" area.

I am very skeptical that the data provided will be at all definitive. My experience has been that CRA/Uniroyal and friends have been very careful over the decades to avoid sampling areas that they don't want to become an embarrassing can of worms. For example lets see how deep the soil samples are. Lets see exactly which parameters have been tested for. Are they individual soil samples or more of the composite sampling horse manure? Etc. etc. When you are in charge of the investigation there are a thousand ways to manipulate the outcome. That has been my takeaway after watching these self-serving folks in action over the last thirty years.

ARE GHD JUST AS BAD AS CRA?

It is difficult to read, study and prepare as strenuously as one once did when both the public and CPAC members have been arbitrarily and unethically removed from the public consultation process by Chemtura /Lanxess and the MOE (MECP) with the assistance of our pretend mayor. After all why have everything at your fingerprints when the Chair of TAG has been ordered NOT to take either questions or comments from the most informed citizens? This of course is exactly what the guilty parties want.

Item 4.2.2 on this Thursday's TAG Agenda is the January 23, 2019 GHD Memo Re: "Re-evaluation of Canagagigue Creek Contaminants of Potential Concern." I view this Memo as a typical piece of junk science or psuedo science as we've been blessed with for the last thirty years and hence my answer to the question in the above title is a hearty "Yes!"

My general list of concerns is as follows:

The hired gun or client driven consultant should neither be doing sampling nor writing reports as if their observations, analysis and conclusions were handed down from Moses unto the people. It is called a conflict of interest for those well paid by the polluter and appropriately biased individuals who profess not to understand why this system is a perversion of the truth, facts and science.

Background concentrations for some contaminants are much lower than sediment samples taken on site and as well the on-site samples are well above Provincial Sediment Quality Guidelines. Allegedly these PAH's however are not Uniroyal Site Related contaminants which I find unlikely. They are then not included as Contaminants of Potential Concern (COPC).

Lindane in some of the Tables is listed as a Site Related Contaminant and in others is not. Endosulfan is also not indicated to be a Site Related Contaminant which I believe is in error.

Literally dozens of VOCs, SVOCs, PAHs etc. are not indicated as to whether they are or are not Sited Related Contaminants. This is unacceptable.

Literally dozens of these various contaminants exceed the criteria yet they are removed as COPC for various reasons some of which I interpret as excuses not legitimate reasons.

This report needs to be taken apart line by line by either independent from the polluter, professionals hired and paid by the government or by amateurs with the time, interest and talent to do so. Of course as indicated earlier most of those people have been systematically eliminated from fully participating in the public consultation process.

UPCOMING TAG MEETING

The next TAG meeting is this coming Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 6:30 pm. in Woolwich Council Chambers. Both the Minutes from the last meeting on January 24, 2019 and the Agenda for this upcoming meeting have been sent out to the various parties and stakeholders including myself. Thank you Lisa Schaefer.

While I have not yet read the entire Minutes from the last meeting I am pleased by some items that have been included. This includes my Delegation to Woolwich Council last August 28, 2018 and among other items suggests that the location of GP-1 (gravel pit 1) has been changed on various maps over the decades. This is huge as it may indicate that the cleanup of GP-1 was a red herring and that it's true location may be closer to and immediately upgradient of the "Gap" area and the Stroh Drain.

There are also references in the Minutes to soil sampling having been done in the past near the "Gap" area and this data to be provided to TAG. Well where the hell is it? The meeting is five days away and one I haven't received it and two I don't see it listed on TAG's correspondence received page.

Page two of the Minutes reference a couple of different maps (CRA, Stantec) which show "linear features" that may be the alleged Interceptor Trench on Lanxess's property.

TAG Terms of Reference were also discussed with some meaningful improvements in public consultation being discussed. That is long overdue and needed.

To my surprise there is a very interesting letter from Pat McLean (absent due to health issues). In it, to my shock, she appears to be congratulating the Citizens Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) for their efforts in exposing the decades old coverup of Uniroyal Chemical contamination that flowed off-site eastwards onto the Stroh farm. Talk about a major reversal from her position between 2011 and 2016, 2017, and 2018. She has actually stated to Lanxess that the volunteer committee was correct in their discovery of this matter. Is she possibly trying to steal or transfer the credit to earlier CPACs or to TAG for the exposure of the east side migration of contamination off-site? That would be a bit much even for her.

WSIB CORRUPTION

Well let's be a little more specific. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) used to be known as the Workman's Compensation Board (WCB). Whether an independent board or not I suspect that they are still under some sort of observation or supervision from the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Similarly the Ministry of Labour are represented in our provincial Cabinet by the Minister of Labour. So to call the WSIB corrupt I'm basically saying that our Ministry of Labour and our provincial government are corrupt. Good news though, you can't lay this at the feet of Doug Ford. All those bodies were corrupt long before he came along.

Liz Witmer, former Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister, is the head of the WSIB. Not a bad "retirement" appointment is it? How she managed to stay on with the Liberals in power for so long, I really don't know unless they were as equally corrupt as the PCs and felt that she would continue to keep WSIB payouts in check.

Now to the present. Two days ago the Waterloo Region Record published the following front page story titled, "WSIB had flagged rubber cases as disease cluster." Holy crap! E-mails have been found through a Freedom of Information request that show that the WSIB many years ago knew that rubber workers were among a group of five sectors in the province who formed clusters of occupational diseases. The five sectors are firefighters, herbicide sprayers, miners exposed to McIntyre Powder, and General Electric workers (likely in Peterborough) as well as rubber workers.

So let me get this straight. Our WSIB, Ministry of Labour, and provincial Cabinet have known for perhaps twenty years or more that there are five sectors of workers who are at extremely high risk of developing occupational diseases. That kind of puts a new light on the Horticultural Technologies fire here in Kitchener some thirty years ago, now doesn't it? Firefighters who worked that fire have been dropping like flies with different cancers since then.

Back to the guilty parties. Why did they not inform the public as to the risks they and their loved ones were taking working in those sectors? Why did they insist that each and every rubber worker had to prove their sickness was caused by working in one of our local rubber factories when the facts are long known that those factories and their products caused cancers and much more? Why of the five sectors are only the firefighters given special status and don't have to prove that their jobs caused their diseases?

The answers are painful but obvious. Money and power. Our government has the power and they wanted to spend taxpayers money elsewhere rather than on assisting critically ill rubber workers. Shame on the WSIB, Ministry of Labour and both Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments. You are corrupt, self-serving liars of the worst kind who hold other people's lives as valueless.

JUSTICE SYSTEM BULLIES THRIVE IN THE PLAYGROUND FOR THE RICH

What an exquisite deal. Regional politicians are in charge of several appointments to the Waterloo Region Police Services Board (WRPB). Same politicians decide who the regional politicians are who will sit on this Board. Regional councillor Tom Galloway has been the Chair of the WRPB for many years. Yes the province have a couple of appointees they put on the Board. Hell they might even throw in the odd token progressive or free thinker. Every regressive, status quo oriented committee or board needs one or two as long as they are vastly in the minority. Meanwhile where the hell are the public announcements in the news media ahead of time telling the public when and where the next allegedly public meeting is? I have been looking for and never finding those announcements.

Several former police officers, mostly female, have sued the Waterloo Region Police Services (WRPS) and WRPB. Kelly Donovan has written a book about both the WRPS and other Ontario police services. Where the hell is the ongoing news media coverage of that lawsuit? Is our local police force going to continue forever being non-transparent and unaccountable to the public who pay their way? Will the WRPS and WRPB continue using taxpayers money to silence, bully and intimidate either former officers or the general public any time the public decide to criticize police behaviour and actions? Courts are the bread and butter of liars and cowards with money, especially liars and cowards with their hands in the public cookie jar in order to finance their assaults upon truth.

METHANE STILL IMPROPERLY ADDRESSED AT BOLENDER PARK LANDFILL

Other than a couple of new monitoring wells installed just off the landfill property in the last few months, nothing is happening. There is no new collection system being built or installed. Methane continues to discharge upwards during thaws and warmer days if the area is exposed to the sun and there is no frost in the ground. Lateral migration will continue otherwise this time of year where there is both frost in the ground as well as snow cover making lateral migration the easiest route. If there are any new reports produced by GHD consultants on behalf of Woolwich Township, you can bet that they are not being either advertised or released to the public where they could be read by citizens without blinders on regarding the same consultant used for Lanxess being used by the Township as well as an incredibly worrisome lack of monitoring consistency and more which one day will seal this Township's reputation and credibility. Having the former CRA (now GHD) as the same consultant to Uniroyal/Lanxess and to the public through the Township is ridiculous. Over the last thirty years the one thing that Uniroyal have clearly shown is that their interests are far too often the exact opposite of what the public's are.

One point regarding the lack of a needed new methane collection system is as follows. The system needs to be on private property and it is fair to say that relations have deteriorated significantly between the Township and the private owner. Yes I could throw stones at the Township and say that they are the most unreasonable of the two parties. Also I can understand how tempting it is to work out one deal that resolves all of the outstanding issues at once. Where it's going right now however on the one issue regarding the illegal municipal waterline on the property is to court where I believe the Township are eventually going to lose while spending taxpayers dollars for that privilege. The loss may be very soon or it could be years down the road on appeal. I fail to see how that advances resolving the other issues.

RECORD OF SITE CONDITION (RSC) FOR ELMIRA PUMP?

I will assume that I am not being fibbed to when I am told that the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP/MOE) have not yet given Elmira Pump their Record of Site Condition. I believe that the company have been diligently working towards that goal for perhaps nineteen years now. Considering that we were advised by the MOE around 1995 that ten years of shallow pump and treat technology would clean up the site adequately, obviously we were misinformed at that time by the MOE. That does not surprise me in the least. If the MOE told me today that Elmira Pump would receive their RSC within six months I would be skeptical. If however Elmira Pump or their consulting company (Peritus) so advised me, I would believe that.

In May 2016 we seemed to be at a crossroads with the cleanup of the former Varnicolo Chemical site located at the corner of Union St. and Howard Ave. A Risk Assessment was being publicly presented in Council Chambers for the property and the goal was an imminent RSC from the MOE allowing Elmira Pump to build some commercial storage units on the site. While residential development with basements etc. might still be problematic, commercial surface storage units seems to be a perfectly acceptable use of the property. I was promised a copy of the completed Risk Assessment and to this day none has been forthcoming. Repeated requests and questions have been answered with the statement that the MOE have not yet given final approval. That's going on three years ago! What the hell!

This is unconscionable treatment of both a local business who stepped in to assume the final cleanup of a formerly grossly contaminated site as well as of the local citizen who instigated the discovery and eventual cleanup of the site. Nearly three years ago, as expected, we learned that the contamination did go right down to the Municipal Aquifer contrary to the MOE's longstanding claims.

YES DOROTHY THERE REALLY IS CORRUPTION IN CANADA

That's the bad news. The good news is that Canadian corruption to date, I don't think can hold a candle to American, Syrian, Indian, Russian, and oh so many other countries around the world. My concern is that corruption like usurping authority by politicians simply grows if it is not resisted. Usurping authority is of course a form of corruption in its own right.

So our good looking, fortunately last named Prime Minister decided to brag about his former Attorney-General still being in Cabinet and hence she clearly didn't think that she had been over ruled regarding the SNC-Lavallan potential prosecution. Upon that remark the recently demoted to Veteran Affairs Minister promptly resigned leaving our silly Prime Minister holding the bag, in the shit, or whatever other metaphor you care to use which indicates that his small brain is compensated for by his big mouth.

It seems pretty obvious to all and sundry that corruption in various forms exists wherever human beings have the opportunity to do so. Politics is simply the best and easiest location to lie, deceive, manipulate and generally have your way with both facts and the truth.

As I mentioned a couple of days back here in Woolwich Township we have our Council authorizing expenditures on lawyers to defend the indefensible because a couple of councillors and staff think it's O.K. to teach uppity citizens a lesson, all the while spending taxpayers money to do so. The issue before the court in Kitchener is that the Township neither put a legal easement on Mr. Rattasid's property nor have they expropriated it, rented, leased or bought it outright yet they continue to use his property for their waterline both to the detriment of his use of his property as well as without paying him compensation for their illegal use of it. What a bunch of arrogant and stupid dummies they are.

Looking forward to this one publicly biting them in the butt as they so richly deserve. Stay tuned.

HALF A CENTURY OF GOVERNMENT SANCTIONED COVERUPS

Canadian General Tower, Northstar Aerospace, Ciba-Geigy, Breslube, Uniroyal Chemical, Hart Chemicals, Eastview Landfill, Bolender Park Landfill, Varnicolor Chemical, Sunar, Canbar, Seagrams?, North Woolwich Landfill,the list just keeps on growing. I've included Seagram's on the list from old memories but at the moment I can't come up with any specifics hence it gets a question mark behind it. The others all have documented histories and they aren't pretty ones environmentally.

While Canbar and Sunar did some serious remediation on their sites I also can't at this time prove collusion or corruption regarding our Ministry of Environment. That said I expect the trichloroethylene (TCE) at both sites is a part of the many decades of TCE still found in our drinking water coming from the William St. Wellfield in Waterloo, Ontario. There are many other sites throughout Waterloo Region that have contaminated our aquifers and degraded our environment. Ever hear much about the legacy of contamination left behind by Budd Automotive in Kitchener? How about not just air pollution but groundwater pollution by some of our tire and rubber manufacturers? And so on and so on.

Of course one reason many of our municipalities are loath to aggressively take on industrial polluters is because of their own culpability. Sewage treatment plants are constantly in non compliance with their operating rules. Landfills are also the elephant in the room, even those that retroactively have been fitted with leachate collection systems. Elmira prefers the use of direct discharge versus leachate collection. The direct discharge translates into ongoing leakage into the Canagagigue Creek from the First St. Landfill as well as the Bolender Park Landfill. The former municipal landfill on the Lanxess property named M2 has some leachate controls but they are not 100% effective all the time by a long shot. Do you think Woolwich Township are in bed with Uniroyal/Chemtura/Lanxess just for the fun of it?

Our provincial government and their Ministry of Environment (MOE) are nothing but deal makers, behind closed doors, with polluters like Uniroyal Chemical. Some of the deals are in the public interest and some are in the MOE's interest. After all they don't want the public to be outraged by their past and current negligence and cost them even more budget cutbacks. Folks we are paying a fortune in taxes and most of it goes to protect the interests of industry and polluters, not to protect our interests.

CIVILIZED CORRUPTION IN CANADA

There is third world corruption such as in Syria, Saudia Arabia, Brazil and many other countries around the world. That style of corruption is accompanied by state sanctioned, whether tacit or explicit, murder, mayhem and torture. Then we have the U.S. and Canadian styles of corruption. By corruption I simply mean bending, breaking or circumventing of the rules of doing business or politics in a country. It is also includes in my opinion a fleecing of the millions of unempowered everyday citizens who are simply trying to make a legal living for themselves and their families. This fleecing can be via taxes, fraud or even legal means in which citizens are grossly overcharged for goods and or services.

SNC-Lavalin are in the news currently. They've been caught, not for the first time, allegedly handing out bribes to foreign governments in an attempt to sell their products. Somehow either through pure good luck or possibly as a direct result of political donations they got Canadian law changed last year allowing "remediation agreements" in place of prosecution for some offences. Now they are trying to collect on this new law in order to avoid prosecution for alleged corruption offences that occurred in Libya. Wow!

But it gets much worse. It turns out that SNC-Lavalin have been lobbying both the federal government as well as opposition parties trying to get off the hook. This lobbying pressure has been passed down the line to the now departed Attorney General. She refused to play ball and next thing you know our Prime Minister fired and demoted her to Veterans Affairs Minister. The best description of that portfolio I've ever heard is that it is the department where political careers go to die. The point is that firing and demotion pretty much satisfies the definition of undue pressure. It indicates that our legal system is at the whim or mercy of politicians, rather than being independent. This is true Canadian corruption at its finest. Laws are only for the little people. Laws are there to serve the interests of the big people not to constrain their interests or behaviour. Shameful and hypocritical.

NO PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATION

The evidence is overwhelming. No one has denied the existence of a Drain running approximately for 175 metres, north to south, parallel and a mere 20 metres away from the Lanxess property line. No one has denied the lines that are visible from satellite and or aerial photographs running from north to south-east across the Lanxess property (Interceptor Trenches?). To date no one has denied the existence of maps indicating that GP-1 (gravel pit 1) has three different locations on the Lanxess property depending on which map you look at. No one has denied that there is an underground pipe, oriented north to south, discharging constantly into the north end of the Stroh Drain. Clearly this is groundwater in the pipe.

What surprised me at the January 24, 2019 after the TAG meeting, meeting, was the complete absence of any attempt to explain any of it. Nothing! No answers, no attempts to give possible explanations, no theories, nothing. In fact, I was the one that suggested that one part of the lines on the satellite and aerial photos might actually be a fence built just prior to the 1993 excavation of RPE-4 & 5. The other lines I still believe most likely to be an Interceptor Trench but am awaiting any other plausible or even half plausible suggested alternative from Lanxess. Nothing.

As I said to Ramin Ansari and Lou Almeida on January 24/19, the presence or absence of an Interceptor Trench does not negate the environmental seriousness of the presence of the Stroh Drain. That Drain should have been pointed out to citizens thirty years ago and its history explained. It was not. Instead its presence was kept a secret even after an aerial photograph in a CRA report showed something that looked like a flat, smooth area of land arcing away from the Chemtura site. Chemtura and the MOE were publicly asked about it and George Karlos of the MOE gave his infamous answer about having just walked the area and there was no pathway by which contaminants could leave the Chemtura site and migrate to the Stroh property.

The duck theory: If it looks like a duck, if it waddles like a duck and if it quacks like a duck - it probably is a duck. The same thing goes for the Interceptor Trenches, relocated GP-1 and the purpose of the Stroh Drain was to drain both surface and ground water from Chemtura and the Stroh farm.

WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP IN COURT NEXT WEEK

The address is 85 Frederick St. which I believe is the newest court house (ie. Superior Court). Ha! Believe me there is nothing superior about it except perhaps the cost to taxpayers. Regarding scheduling for example, the parties have been advised that yes they have a court date for next week. They will be informed later this week as to which day, what time and which courtroom. Pretty superior isn't it?

So what's the beef? Well the owner bought a pig in a poke. Along with the former Paleshi garage and auto wrecking yard it seems that he bought a methane problem. Oh and he also bought a chunk of land that after the fact he's being ordered around by Woolwich as to what he can and can not do on his property. For example he's being told that he can't drive over a piece of his own land. Nor can he change the landscaping in any fashion near the east side of his property. All this because Woolwich Township have an illegal buried municipal waterline through his property. I refer to it as illegal because gosh darn it the municipality forgot to ever get an easement for it. That's right it was installed about three owners ago and isn't marked on the deed. The owner previous to Mr. Rattasid ( ie. Mr Paleshi) claims that he didn't know about the waterline being installed prior to his ownership of the land.

There are other problems such as Woolwich Township advising Mr. Rattasid that there no longer was methane present when he purchased the property. This of course was based upon inadequate Conestoga Rovers (CRA) reports on behalf of the township. The township had actually removed the methane collection system prior to Mr. Rattasid's purchase of the property. This was premature and if Woolwich had been doing their due diligence and carefully reading the CRA reports they would have known that. The thirty-five year history of those studies and reports has been totally inadequate and in my opinion incompetent. Now Woolwich again want access to his land to rebuild a methane collection system that if done properly decades ago would have long resolved the problem of explosive levels of methane gas on the property as well as threatening neighbour's properties.

Through all of this Mr. Rattasid has been willing to discuss and negotiate as equals with the township in regards to permitting their continued excursions on his land to fix the problem of methane arising from the former municipal Bolender Park Landfill. As part of this process of granting access to his land he would like something in return. To date the township have decided that they would rather fight to the last taxpayers dollars then to sit down and discuss/negotiate in good faith with Mr. Rattasid. In good faith includes being truthful about the facts surrounding this site and the landfill itself.

KEEP THE SHEEP CONTENTED & QUIET

Ministry of the Environment Standard operating procedure 101: minimize and downplay the damage. Especially if you yourself don't know the severity of the damage, always understate it. You might get lucky. Eventually everything gets spilled or dumped in our society. Airplanes full of people and cargo, trains full of crude oil (Lac Megantic), and trucks full of gasoline, diesel fuel or jet fuel. Oh and less we forget boats of course. Big boats full of bunker C go to the bottom slowly leaking their fuel into waterways.

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following story titled "Landowner says environmental damage from Mill Creek fuel spill is worse than thought". The landowner states that recent rains have spread the jet fuel via flooding onto land around the creek which could kill acres of old growth trees in addition to the damage that has impacted fish, otters, ducks and salamanders. He believes that the fish will be severely impacted and "if it kills all those trees , that's the whole damn system gone."

Last Wednesday, a month after the spill occurred oil booms were still being added to a branch of the creek where the smell of fuel was still strong. Even more troubling an oily sheen could still be seen on the creek water,in that area, days later.

WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP ATTACKS VOLUNTEERS

I wonder if at any time in history Woolwich or any other municipal government in Ontario has so viciously and nastily attacked their own volunteers the way Woolwich did on April 9, 2015? While Todd Cowan set the standard for wholesale turnover of a volunteer committee in 2011, he went out of his way not to personally attack the character or efforts of the citizens who had in some cases been involved with CPAC for several terms. Mayor Cowan at the time simply made standard references to wanting to go in a new direction, etc. He did not falsely suggest as Sany Shantz and friends did on April 9, 2015 that the 2010 to 2014 CPAC were "roadblocks to progress"or that they were involved in "bullying and aggressive" behaviour, or that there was a "lack of control in meeting." How dare such an ignorant group of alleged "stakeholders" speak so ill of a CPAC committee that fifteen out of seventeen of them had not regularly attended in the previous four years.

Chemtura and the Ontario Ministry of Environment certainly could be expected to criticize CPAC from their positions of corruption and dishonesty. For fellow citizens such as Pat and Susan however it was disgraceful. In contrast neither the current CPAC members nor myself have ever criticized the new TAG members who were appointed by Sandy Shantz. A couple of them are very good but even the totally inexperienced members have been working hard over the last three and a half years to get up to speed.

CPAC members were so disgusted by the false and scurrilous comments in the Minutes of the April 9, 2015 "stakeholders" meeting that all but one refused to apply for a second time to be on the new committees. That second application process in itself was a sham as CPAC members along with Pat and Susan had already applied in November 2014 but nobody else did which upset Sandy and her brain trust on Council. Therefore they intentionally provoked and alienated CPAC members into refusing to reapply. In fact, speaking for myself, I would be hard pressed to ever apply for any volunteer position with Woolwich Township ever again after their filthy and disgusting behaviour. The independence and credibility of committees of council are always suspect but here in Woolwich it is far worse. This Township now have a history of dishonest behaviour, second to none. They simply are not worthy of the efforts and dedication of Woolwich residents and citizens.

DECEMBER 2018 LANXESS PROGRESS REPORT

I believe that I have previously posted regarding the extent of off-site pumping in December. It is at historically excellent levels although not remotely close to either double or triple as promised initially in November 2012.

Surface water in the Canagagigue Creek continues to surprise. Conductivity increases from the upstream end of the creek just above Lanxess (Uniroyal) to the downstream end. PH decreases which indicates increasing acidity of the water. None of this is the surprising part. Table C.2 indicates that various chlorophenols and cresols have higher average concentrations in the creek upstream than downstream over the last three years. That is both odd and concerning and may indicate that the Bolender Park Landfill is and has been discharging to the creek. With volatile organics (VOCs) only benzene and toluene have higher concentrations downstream than upstream which is not surprising. Base/Nuetral Extractables (BNAs) are more peculiar however. Aniline, carboxin, NMOR and BEHP all have higher concentrations upstream than downstream. Again I suspect the Bolender Park Landfill.

Figure D.1 should embarass Lanxess and GHD. It purports to show groundwater contours in the Surficial Aquifer (SA) on Lanexess's north-east corner. Unfortunately it fails to indicate the already admitted by them flow of SA groundwater eastwards onto the Stroh property.

Figure D.3 should also be embarassing. It shows ridiculously low head differential (ie. water level difference) between the Upper Aquifer (UA) and the surface of the creek for half of the observation wells. This indicates that hydraulic containment of the UA is marginal at best.

Table F.1 indicates the thickness of LNAPL (light non aqueous phase liquid) floating on the water table in Lanxess's south-west corner. It ranges over several wells from black tar-like blobs present on the probe to half a metre in thickness. This LNAPL was discovered in 1995 and belatedly presented to UPAC many months after being found.It is disgraceful that it has not been removed in over twenty years. Monitoring doesn't cut it and neither do excuses.

APATHY REIGNS SUPREME

Lambka, Donovan, oh my God I can't remember the name of the native shot and killed near the Brantford reserve last year. Nor can I remember the name of the nineteen year old girl several years ago who suffocated herself at the Kitchener Prison for Women while guards watched and did not intervene. Then there is Beau Baker on Brybeck Cresent in Kitchener as well as the local and recent shooting of the mentally ill man in Ottawa. He allegedly was holding a knife. If an officer is attacked by ambush with a knife wielding assailant then all bets are off especially if the officer is alone. A lethal and immediate response (gun) may be the best and most appropriate action. However in the case of Beau Baker and the young man in Toronto (Sammy Yatim) a few years ago as well as the recent Ottawa case there were multiple police officers present and they all had been pre-advised of an agitated individual holding a knife. Between being forewarned and fully prepared they had available pepper spray, stun guns, rubber bullets, batons and more; there was not a need to shoot to kill.

The first two names on this list thankfully have not been killed by state intervention or state negligence. The officer in the Sammy Yatin case thankfully has been convicted of attempted murder at least. Too many officers have killed citizens unnecessarily and it needs to end. The first name on the list (Lambka)defended himself, his father and his home against armed intruders and he was given four years in jail for so doing. Why are not more police officers sent to jail for causing deaths? Either holding a knife or attempting to steal a pickup are not grounds for murder either by the public or the police. Similarly shooting a suspect who is fleeing is not legal or proper except under extraordinary circumstances as is recently in the local news. Lastly our police service senior management seem to weigh their decisions more by public outrage then by the severity of the misbehaviour. Overall good police officers who immaturely texted photos and jokes among themselves (Blackberry Messaging Ap.?) were fired. Yes there behaviour needed denunciation and discipline but not to that extent or severity. Now the Regional Police are on their annual pilgrimage to regional council wanting again to hire more officers.

Why does this crap go on and on? It's because of public apathy. It's because after a traumatic event happens our media do not follow up regularly and routinely. Tell the public what is happening or not happening. Tell us when and where the next hearing or court date is for Kelly Donovan and the other female officers fighting against the entrenched and unaccountable male dominated Waterloo Regional Police Service. Tell us why Lambka was convicted for defending himself. Tell us why he wasn't able to appeal his sentence. Was it simply a lack of money and for that our judicial system lets him sit in jail for four years? What is going on with the police shooting last fall near Caledon (?) in which one officer intentionally shot another officer. Why are we kept in the dark on these matters? Canadian citizens are not engaged with what their public institutions are doing and this is how these institutions slowly devolve into self-serving, opaque and unaccountable bodies looking out primarily for the interests of those at the top.

LAST MONTH'S JET-FUEL SPILL

Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record carried the following story titled "Jet-fuel spill cleanup still ongoing." A tanker truck spilled 50,000 litres of jet-fuel onto highway 401 and into the ditch and nearby Mill Creek. The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) have as yet not received water quality test results from the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) that were taken at the Shade's Mills Conservation Area, which is fed by Mill Creek. After three weeks time and considering the extent of the emergency and environmental risk, I find that bizarre.

This waterway from Shade's Mills flows flows into the Grand River in downtown Cambridge. Without the test results it is more difficult to determine the extent of the damage to the waterway and life in and around it. Municipal drinking wells at the north end of Cambridge have been closed and as well ice fishing at Shade's Mills remains closed for the season due to the spill. Obviously after the recent major thaw, ice-fishing likely would have been closed anyway. Contaminated soil is still being removed as of a couple of days ago at the site of the spill (401 & Hwy 6 north).

The responsibility rests with the MECP which is a concern. Like many provincial ministries they are better at puffery and public relations than they are at actual cleanups. This failure however ultimately resides with our provincial government and Cabinet which have higher priorities than environmental protection or cleanup. One obvious method is delaying the immediate test results and waiting for later results when likely the concentrations of contaminants are lower. This of course raises the issue that I spoke about three weeks ago and that is whether or not jet-fuel can dissolve into water. If it can't as some on-line sources claim then sampling downstream water seems to be a sham. If jet-fuel doesn't dissolve at all in water then you simply avoid the floating stuff and the sheen on the surface that is part of it and you are home free. If it does dissolve as I originally expected then your downstream testing will pick it up. Those results are going to be interesting.

AN ABUSE OF TAXPAYERS MONEY - SLAPP SUITS BY PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

The Waterloo Region District School Board has done it. Likely at least one of our municipalities have tried it. Now the Waterloo Region Police Board are doing it. A class action lawsuit was filed against them a couple of years back regarding their treatment of female police officers. The blue wall really is only about the boys in blue. The allegations in the lawsuit describe various despicable actions by male police officers, generally those of higher ranks although not exclusively.

Kelly Donovan, a former police officer, has challenged them and taken them to court. Her allegations have been supported by many other female officers as well as by some senior male officers. Despite this the Police Board have filed a suit against Kelly Donovan
alleging that she has broken her resignation agreement. It also appears that the Police Board are using some sort of legal loophole to get around recent amendments (2015) to Ontario's Libel laws. This is shameful behaviour when public institutions break the laws in the first place by harassing and discriminating against employees and then turn around and use public funds for over the top legal SLAPP suits. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.

Instead of a long overdue housecleaning at the top, we the taxpayers are facing the spectre of those in charge hiding behind both taxpayers money and the courts in order for them to misbehave with impunity. This has to end. Senior police management along with the Police Services Board and our local regional politicians are debasing the reputations of many fine and professional rank and file police officers by their circle the wagons and bury their heads in the sand approach to this long standing issue.

THEY KNEW BUT DID THEY CARE?

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following front page story and title "BF GOoodrich issued rubber health warning." While the focus is on BF Goodrich my favourite company, Uniroyal, was also mentioned. "Safety officials at Uniroyal, the city's other big rubber employer at the time, forwarded the BF Goodrich report on to their own toxicologists."

Two particular chemical compounds used in the rubber industry (Cure Rite 18 & OBTS) "... included the potential to cause cancer and "genetic mutations" that could be passed on to the children of rubber workers." BF Goodrich did propose better ventilation inside the factory as well as making respirators mandatory in departments that handled those two compounds. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had also been investigating complaints from BF Goodrich employees in Ohio about "numerous cases of dermatitis and several cases of nausea and dizziness" among workers using solvents. I do recall in 1990 receiving a booklet produced by the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group (WPIRG) that listed various industrial solvents and their health effects upon humans. Benzene for example was listed as a cause of leukemia (blood cancer).

Local rubber workers had similar complaints. Cases of "rubber poisoning" included teeth having to be pulled, strange rashes and dizzy spells. In reality chemical companies in Germany and Switzerland had learned about the toxic effects of many chemicals and solvents used in the dye industry as far back as the late 1800s. Those cases included poisonings and cancers attributed to exposure to toxic industrial chemicals. It may have been a convenient myth that that information wasn't available in North America for another hundred years.

STILL WAITING

Four and one quarter years ie. from October 2014 until February 2019 or ... just short of five months ie. from early last September until now or ... a mere nine days ie. from January 24, 2019 until today February 2, 2019. If there is one thing dealing with unaccountable, non-transparent, multi-national and multi-billion dollar corporate enterprises has taught me it is patience.

Of course the very same thing goes for dealing with our provincial government via the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Labour and especially the Ministry of Environment ie. MOE, MOEE, MOECC, MECP etc. In my opinion this provincial Ministry keep on changing their name, just like Uniroyal Chemical have done, in order to hide or coverup their past sins. Here's a hint to the MOE: Uniroyal are now Lanxess. I suggest that you somehow drop the M and the E which are two thirds of your original name and come up with something entirely different as Uniroyal have done.

The first paragraph lists the waiting times for Chemtura/Lanxess to address the Stroh Drain just off the east side of their property. The mere nine days is of course from the public TAG meeting until now. GHD, consultants to Lanxess, promised historical soil tests allegedly taken relevant to the Stroh property. Of course they've had them for years and should have brought them along to the TAG meeting but didn't. With their vaunted electronic data tool (E-Dat), that a local luminary supposedly assisted with, it seems odd that they haven't dug the information out yet.

What also seems odd are the stories being put forth regarding the swale, the "Gap", the Interceptor Trenches, the galvanized pipe into the Stroh Drain, and the relocation of GP-1. These stories include furrows possibly versus a swale, a walking path versus Interceptor Trenches and the volume of water in the Stroh Drain being explained as drainage from several neighbouring properties into the Stroh Drain. That last one may be half right as the Stroh Drain has drained the wetlands on both sides of the border between the Lanxess and Stroh property.

I have also been looking for answers to a number of these questions. Some of them I have found, others not. What I find bizarre is the lack of both logical answers from GHD and Lanxess as well as any kind of backup evidence whatsoever, offered to date. The MOE's lack of input has also been bizarre. Some of the allegations especially in regards to the Interceptor Trench speak to possible collusion and corruption yet they are remaining silent other than to say they won't immediately order soil, sediment and water testing in and around the Stroh Drain. The existence of the Stroh Drain itself they have not denied, however with multiple witnesses as well as photographs that would be self-defeating for them. This has been a coverup for a very long time. Continuing it will eventually blow up in Lanxess's and the MOE's faces.

IT'S 'S'NO JOKE: A PLAGIARIZED TITLE

O.K. so the somewhat plagarized title comes from an article by Luisa D'Amato in today's Waterloo Region Record. The full title of her opinion piece is 'S'no joke: City adds insult to injury on sidewalk snow." Firstly I agree this is not my normal topic for an environmental Blog. Yes I've included local politics in here because it has such an impact on our local environmental issues. Mostly a negative impact I might add. That said I suppose snow is related to climate change but we've had heavy snow prior to climate change. Oh heck I'm doing it regardless.

Ms. D'Amato has related an incident earlier in the week when a woman phoned the City of Kitchener to complain that the snow plough had thrown a lot of snow onto her freshly shovelled sidewalk. She had done her civic duty and more by cleaning it and didn't appreciate the city making her do a legally mandated chore twice. She was advised that she was still obligated to reclean the sidewalk although a city route supervisor could come out and inspect and he or she would determine if there was too much snow for the homeowner to remove again. Quoting Ms. D'Amato "What unbelievable gall for a municipality to not only order property owners to clean up city-owned sidewalks but also to threaten it may force the property owner to clear them again after the city made a mess."

I agree with Ms. D'Amato on this matter. I also agree that in my opinion the law really is tenuous on this matter of demanding that the non-owners of the property (sidewalk) must clean those sidewalks upon pain of financial penalty. It is long past time that the cities took over sidewalk shovelling/plowing and left the homeowners to shovel their driveways if they so wish. This is exactly what is done in Elmira and as I live on a corner lot I'm happy about that.

Now let's up the ante. What do you think after a heavy snow when you see the snowplow clean the street by both throwing the snow on the city owned boulevards but also into the end of the sidewalk and into the end of your perhaps freshly shovelled driveway? Imagine now if you have a double driveway and you are a corner lot and the snowplow operator drops his blades literally fifty or sixty metres upstream from you. He comes around the corner of the main street picking up snow, drops a small proportion of it into the end of the sidewalk then proceeds for the next twenty metres picking up more snow only to throw the whole three to four foot high mess into the bottom of your double driveway. Now the snow that was thrown into the end of the sidewalk does get shovelled out by the city sidewalk plow.

You the homeowner are left to deal with the major blockage at the end of your driveway. If the law is going to be used to threaten homeowners then how about this? What about the city being charged with public mischief for blocking the end of your driveway? If they are willing to clear the snow that they have blocked the end of the sidewalk with (in Elmira) then why not use that same plow to clean out the end of my driveway a scant twenty metres away? To me this is an obvious case of preventing a homeowner from enjoying the use of his property. How well can you use your property if you can neither access it or depart from it? How dangerous is it for elderly citizens (like me) to be blocked into our homes by the city owned snowplow?