A BLAST FROM THE PAST

March 15, 2014, Letter To The Editor of the Woolwich Observer: Dr. Dan Holt, CPAC Chair sent the following Letter To The Editor titled "Groundwater safety an issue right here in Elmira". Essentially Dr. Holt was both complimenting the Woolwich Observer newspaper for a recent article they did about groundwater protection in California and around the world and at the same time asking why they so studiously appear to be ignoring that which is unfolding before their eyes here in Elmira, Ontario.

Dr. Holt advised that Chemtura Canada (formerly Uniroyal Chemical) in conjunction with the Ontario Ministry of Environment were refusing to do on-site source removal of contaminated soils and buried wastes which have and are negatively impacting groundwater quality here in Elmira. While Dr. Holt focused on the former Uniroyal site, I can advise that there are multiple former industrial sites in Elmira that have never been remediated and which affect our local groundwater. Yes this includes multiple local landfills which accepted (as was the norm at the time) both municipal food wastes as well as local industrial wastes, toxic or otherwise.

Does anyone in Waterloo Region seriously think that the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge with their past history of industrial manufacturing and use of solvents including benzene, toluene, xylenes , trichloroethylene (TCE) and so many more not also have ongoing contamination of groundwater due to negligent toxic waste disposal practices from the early 1900s to the 1980s?