BACK TO THE FUTURE ? STUDYING THE PAST CAN ILLUMINATE THE FUTURE

Friday April 4, 2014. Just over six years ago Gail Martin of the Elmira Independent wrote two stories titled "In-Situ remediation project moves forward" and "MOE plans DDT study". The first story described two failed attempts as of that date to use In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO) to lower the concentrations of off-site "hot spots" of contamination. The third location to be attempted was by off-site pumping well W3 which is located very close to the Midas muffler shop on Industrial Dr. It too in hindsight failed according to Conestoga Rovers and Chemtura due to factors out of their control. Not so according to Dr. Richard Jackson a couple of years later. Dr. Jackson, Chair of TAG (Technical Advisory Group) claimed that the ISCO tests failed due to either incompetence or lack of knowledge/effort/will. Perhaps all of the preceding. I have to tell you that Elmira was the big loser when Susan Rupert (one of the APTE founders), the Elmira Independent, and Dr. Jackson all departed.

The second article refers to a new planned DDT study. Ostensibly this is in response to a request from CPAC to the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE). I am however a little skeptical about that. It seems that of the many excellent ideas that some UPAC or CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) members have come up with over the decades, very few are ever sincerely acted upon by either the MOE or Uniroyal/Chemtura. Those that have been are for self-serving purposes of either Chemtura or the MOE or more likely both. In other words they are to advance private plans that those two parties already have.

Guess what? Currently and since 2017 the MOE and Chemtura/Lanxess Canada have been working towards another Site Specific Risk Assessment (SSRA). A rose by any other name smells just as corrupt. The testing in the Canagagigue Creek in 2012, 2014, 2015 etc. all is leading towards the tried and proven black art of SSRA. That process perhaps does not need to be corrupt but as long as the polluter, their consultants and the equally corrupt regulator (MOE/MECP) are in charge of the process, it's pretty much a given. The SSRA is for the downstream Canagagigue Creek (the "Gig") from the current Lanxess (Uniroyal Chemical) site to the mouth of the "Gig" at the Grand River just south of West Montrose. Each and every study since 2012 has been vigorously studied, and criticized for a plethora of major flaws and each and every one of those criticisms have fallen on the deaf and biased ears of the corrupted parties. These criticisms have come from multiple CPAC and TAG members who have volunteered their time and expertise. This expertise includes hydrogeologists, biologists, remediation specialists, and local citizens with decades of experience reading technical reports, questioning and debating the polluter's and the MOE's experts.

Is our future in doubt? Hardly unless or until Ontario citizens wake up and take this province back from politicians and their self-serving supporters. Perhaps as "climate change" continues to unleash hell upon the world, citizens everywhere will wake up to the unpalatable truth that our politicians have failed to embrace the long term public interest in favour of short term monied interests. So it has always been and will likely continue until the end.