THE "SDDB"

I and one or two others over the last thirty years have been in a position to be able to coin original phrases regarding the Elmira Water Crisis. Wally Ruck of Uniroyal did it with his early and infamous "NDMA is not in our vocabulary." quote. Susan Bryant did it with her "Adjusting the science according to your needs" in reference to Conestoga Rovers on behalf of Uniroyal Chemical. I have over the decades coined phrases such as describing the Ontario Ministry of Environment as "partners in pollution" with Uniroyal and their successors. I also felt no difficulty in naming the Stroh Drain as exactly that based upon my being the first member of the public to discover, photograph and make public the existence of this extraordinarily relevant, topographical feature immediately beside the Uniroyal/Lanxess east side property line. This past spring after further discoveries and revelations based upon the April 11, 2019 site tour as well as new, more accurate flood line maps from GHD, I renamed the Stroh Drain the Stroh Drain, Ditch and Berm (SDDB).

As I mentioned yesterday it certainly appears as if Lanxess through their cozy relationship with Woolwich Township's mayor (pretend) have called a timeout. Even with hand picked citizen representatives by the mayor (pretend) it seems as if Lanxess and their consultants GHD are feeling the heat. This is based upon the inherent intelligence, honesty, and decency of most of the TAG members including their Chair. Have no doubt that the Chair, whether paid directly or indirectly (i.e. Lanxess) by Woolwich Township must follow orders. This is the old "He who pays the piper, calls the tune" scenario and is well loved by politicians and others of similar ilk. That said it is my hope (and belief) that Tiffany Svensson has a line in the sand that she will not cross because both pretend mayors and multi national, multi billion dollar corporations usually do not.

TAG's first Chair, Dr. Richard Jackson, had a line in the sand and he made it clear to TAG and the attending CPAC and public what it was. The minute he understood that the Elmira cleanup problems were not technical ones but were "public policy" issues, he submitted his resignation. Ms. Svensson to date is willing to continue pushing for cleanup improvements both to the Elmira Aquifers and to the Canagagigue Creek despite knowing that governance will and backbone are historically lacking. She has the advantage over Dr. Jackson in that she is leading a now more experienced group of TAG members versus the brand new folks who started with inherent belief and confidence in the MOE (MECP) and who certainly early on were reluctant to rock the boat until they had more knowledge and experience with our local situation. Therefore her response to "public policy" failures will be somewhat dependent upon how much support TAG members continue to give her. Without that strong support she is putting her neck on the chopping block and our local powers have shown their love of using the chopping block even on informed and honest Woolwich volunteers (i.e. CPAC).