WOW! ABSOLUTELY BLATANT MEDIA GAMESMANSHIP

I do not know how a print media titled "Waterloo Region Record" could possibly write an article specifically about a local town within Waterloo Region, publish it in a small newspaper in another local town within Waterloo Region but NOT publish it in hard copy either here in Elmira or in Kitchener-Waterloo. It boggles the mind. The article is of course the one mentioned here recently, written by Leah Gerber and titled "Experts probe Elmira chemical-manufacturing site for groundwater contamination". Two days ago I did send an e-mail to the author/reporter Ms. Gerber asking for some clarification, rationale or explanation. To date nothing. Again this morning (not long ago) I sent a second e-mail to a long term Record reporter whom I have known for a very long time and have confidence in. I await their response. ......................................................................................................... Like everyone else I have followed various highly critical reports concerning reductions in media ownership and possible accompanying loss of jounalistic independence. Yes I have seen disappointing evidence of that and other symptoms of narrowing media ownership over the decades. I have certainly seen less investigative journalism since the heady days of the early Elmira Water Crisis in late 1989. All that said I have seen some excellent coverage in the Record regarding the health crisis and legacy of working at local rubber manufacturing plants in Kitchener-Waterloo including Kaufman, Uniroyal, B.F. Goodrich and more. I believe that Ron Deruyter authored those magnificanr articles. ................................................................................................................. We lost the Elmira Independent here in Elmira in early July 2015. Our remaining local newspaper, the Woolwich Observer, did participate very well in coverage of Uniroyal Chemical and Elmira's air, water and soil contamination from 1995 until perhaps 2004. Absolutely horrible and mostly non-existent coverage since. This is not to say that the Observer do not cover other local interest stories well because generally they do. Regarding gravel pits, Hawkridge Homes subdivision, Woolwich Bio-En and much more they do an excellent job. With Crompton/Chemtura and Lanxess they are hopeless. A major part of the reason that I started this Blog in 2010 was because of what I viewed as inadequate environmental (including Chemtura) coverage by both papers although the Independent were miles ahead of the Observer on that topic. .............................................................................................................. I await any response whatsoever from the Record. If none is forthcoming then my small remaining confidence is shattered. We are at the mercy of the professional liars out there and media scrutiny on behalf of the public may indeed be finished. I can not overstate my shock at how blatant this looks like corporate power either buying or intimidating proper media coverage. This is a line in the sand moment Waterloo Region Record. If you've been chased off publishing about Lanxess Canada and the Elmira shoddy cleanup then do the honourable thing. It hurts me to say this but you will be doing more public harm going through the motions by continuing rather than by ending the disgrace.

WATERLOO REGION RECORD ABANDONS ELMIRA RESIDENTS

GROSS NEGLIGENCE BY WOOLWICH COUNCILS, REGIONAL COUNCILS & ONTARIO MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................... As you can see by the double headline we will be discussing two separate (but related) issues today. The second (& smaller) headline refers to yesterday's posting here in the Advocate. Courtesy of Uniroyal former chief chemist Fred Hager, some CPAC members were advised twenty years ago or more that Uniroyal Chemical and the federal government had an emergency meeting in Ottawa back in the early 1960s to discuss recently discovered 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo p dioxin (TCDD) being found as an unwanted by-product of the manufacture of trichlorophenols (TCP) which are used to produce both 2,4,5-T and Agent Orange (2,4-d & 2,4,5-T). Of course both Uniroyal Chemical ownership & management along with the Canadian government were enthusiastically spreading misery and death upon several generations of Vietnamese people as well as upon American servicemen. That no American politicians or senior military persons went to jail for that speaks volumes as to the integrity of the American judicial system. .................................................................................................................. It is my understanding that Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira stopped the production of Agent Orange sometime within a few years of that meeting. I do not know the exact dates. I do know that there have been a number of studies since of the Canagagigue Creek examining sediments, floodplain soils, creekbank soils, fish tissues and possibly the benthic community as well. The years 1966, 1996, 1997, 2012, 2013, 2015 come to mind. Besides dioxins/furans some of these studies also included testing for DDT, PAH's, other pesticides and herbicides, mercury and PCBs. It is fair to say that the results of these studies were generally consistent. Testing for dioxins/furans and DDT in most samples led to horrific results far in exceedance of all criteria examined including fish tissues (i.e. tissue residue guidelines (TRG)). Many other chemicals tested for also led to exceedances of various provincial or federal guidleines and criteria. ...................................................................................................................... I believe it is accurate to state that zero cleanup whatsoever has occurred in the Canagagigue Creek off the Uniroyal/Lanxess property. Thousands of trees have been sacrificed for possibly millions of dollars of consultant reports, government reports etc. Not an ounce of contaminated sediments or soils have been physically removed from the downstream creek. By the way all the studies stopped either at or prior to the confluence of the Canagagigue Creek with the Grand River, approximately a half mile south of the village of West Montrose. Meanwhile fish (carp) many miles downstream in Kitchener have been tested and found to have 2,3,7,8 TCDD in them. Uniroyal Chemical is the only known upriver source. ................................................................................................................... Back to the main headline. Exactly what the hell are the Waterloo Region Record doing? On Sunday their environmental reporter, Leah Gerber, had her story published in the New Hamburg Independent. It was also in the Record's on-line synopsis of upcoming stories to be published and presumably distributed in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Elmira and the Townships. To date it has not seen the light of day in any of our local municipalities including Kitchener, Waterloo or Elmira. The title of the story is as indicated here two days ago: "Experts probe Elmira chemical-manufacturing site for groundwater contamination". This is an Elmira located story and the Record aren't even distributing it to their Elmira readers. By the way I have confirmed with multiple friends in Kitchener and Waterloo that the story did not appear in the hard copy Record either Monday or Tuesday. I expect a phone call from them if it were to appear today although I can confirm that it certainly is NOT in today's Record delivered to Elmira homes. Exactly how large was the DONATION OR ADVERTISING DOLLARS you received Waterloo Region Record to betray Elmira readers and more? I hope it was worth your loss of credibility as allegedly being one of the "local" papers here in town. Bob Verdun, we desperately need you and the Elmira Independent back in town for unintimidated news coverage.

THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT KNOWINGLY PERMITTED DIOXIN DISCHARGES FROM UNIROYAL CHEMICAL IN ELMIRA TO THE GRAND RIVER, WATERLOO, KITCHENER & CAMBRIDGE FOR SIXTY YEARS

LIKELY THOSE DISCHARGES STILL CONTINUE ........................................................................................................... This is why Ramin Ansari of Lanxess Canada (formerly Uniroyal) is "snakebitten" by public knowledge of a sink of Persistent Organic Pollutants including dioxin/furans on the Stroh and possibly Martin properties as well. This is why all levels of local government from municipal, regional to provincial have participated in the coverup of the flow of Uniroyal's Agent Orange components onto the Stroh farm for decades. Our authorities had a problem. One how to either stop or "mitigate" the discharges and two how to ensure that the public never learned about decades of ongoing dioxin discharges into the natural environment. Part of the solution of the second problem was to ensure that all parties and authorities were on side. It also included total control of everything to do with the Uniroyal "cleanup" after the discovery of NDMA in Elmira's water supply in 1989. This meant that Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) became equal partners in the cleanup. Afterall Uniroyal could always cut and run leaving both the physical mess and the public relations mess to the Ontario government to clean up. It is unlikely that every single municipal and regional councillor was "read into" the coverup. Only those who needed to be to ensure no political rogue actions occurred. .................................................................................................................. Total control meant exactly that. While the outraged public would have none of that in 1992, by 2000 councillor Pat Mclean and her CPAC buddy consolidated authority for CPAC entirely with Woolwich Council. Esther Thur, Dr. Henry Regier and I all objected to no avail. Since then CPAC and Woolwich Council have cheerfully desecrated, slandered and removed non compliant citizens from CPAC (Crompton/Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) at will. The Ontario MOE have rolled over continually on cleanup decisions. Science and facts have been sacrificed on the alter of a coverup to protect the reputations of dishonest politicians at three levels. ...................................................................................................... The first problem of mitigation required both subterfuge and finesse. The company adamantly refused to spend many millions of dollars on testing, excavating, trucking and reburial elsewhere or destruction of the contaminants. Uniroyal and the MOE (now MECP) knew or suspected that they had dioxins en masse both on site as well as off site to the east in the low lying bowl shaped area on the Stroh farm. Rumours had abounded for decades that the senior Mr. Stroh was receiving cash from Uniroyal for crop damages and possibly more. Therefore they looked for a way to inexpensively and unobtrusively "mitigate" the problem. In 2013 they (Uniroyal/Chemtura) claimed that they were going to "voluntarily" excavate and remove dioxins/furans from GP-1 and GP-2 on their site. Of course they did no such thing as it cost $3.5 million just to do the partial cleanup of that south-east area. A partial cleanup that included capping with soil GP-2 but no excavtion and removal of soils. All the guilty parties had of course lied like dogs to UPAC and CPAC regarding migration of liquid wastes from the east side ponds/pits further eastwards onto the Stroh property from 1992 until yours truly discovered the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) in May 2014. Since then they have minimized, lied, deceived and delayed either proper testing or cleanup of the area. ...................................................................................................................... Yesterday I stated in the sub-title "Its a road, It's a dike; It's a berm, but It's no longer a bowl!" I believe that that is the brief discription of what passes for "mitigation" here in Elmira when the blatant polluter has the 100% complete backing for a coverup by our local and provincial governments. They lied and denied first and then they built a road down through the middle of their south-east corner ostensibly in order to service (sample) recently installed monitoring wells (1981) such as OW 24 and OW69. Of course removing myself and all the CPAC members from sit down discussions with Chemtura/Lanxess in 2015 quickly avoided them having to answer any of these embarassing questions. This road out of necesity required a solid gravel base to elevate it above the low lying wetlands throughout the area. This road also conveniently acted as a Dike for normal spring flooding of the Canagagigue Creek (to the west) which flooded across the entire south-east corner and also eroded and removed soils downstream. This road conveniently serves double duty as it protects the contaminated GP-1 and GP-2 areas from normal spring flooding and erosion which is why there were still high concentrations of dioxins/furans there as late as 2013. Of course as per GRCA 100 year flood models that road is submerged as is everything else in the south-east corner of Chemtura/Lanxess and Stroh with the exception of the very high north-west to south-east diagonal ridge of high ground on the property. .................................................................................................................. The same construction occurred a few hundred metres due east on the Stroh property. Here the Dike protecting the low lying "sink" area is what I've been calling a Berm for the last six plus years. The rationale or alleged (or actual) purpose is to help drain the swamp via means of the Ditch from which the soils were used to build the Berm. The swamp on both properties was indeed drained. Hence this Dike/Berm (and Drain) effectively blocks and redirects the eroding force of Canagagigue floodwaters southwards back towards the creek and reduces (mitigates) the quantity of soil erosion moving downstream to the Grand River, Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge and eventually on to Lake Erie. Lastly the "sink" area was historically bowl shaped. The Stroh Drain opened up the southern end of the bowl thus allowing runoff, reducing settling of contaminated soil particles in the former "sink" area. ................................................................................................................... These two Dikes were a tiny fraction of the cost of a proper cleanup of dioxins/furans, DDT etc. both on the Uniroyal/Chemtura/Lanxess site and off it (Stroh property). Our authorities have and continue to permit this travesty in order to protect themselves from culpability and liability for their failures and errors both of commission and omission over many decades.

LANXESS EAST SIDE CONTAMINATION ARTICLE ALLEGEDLY IN TODAY'S PAPER

IT'S A ROAD, IT"S A DIKE; IT'S A BERM, IT'S A DIKE BUT IT'S NO LONGER A BOWL! ...................................................................................................................... An Elmira friend sent me a link last evening to an article in the New Hamburg Independent titled "Experts probe Elmira chemical-manufacturing site for groundwater contamination" written by Leah Gerber of the Waterloo Region Record. Lo and behold when I googled today's Record that same article was in it. So why when I pulled my home delivered newspaper off the front porch was that article NOT in this morning's paper? In the past I have occasionally noticed that newspapers delivered to stores sometimes have additional or missing articles. Perhaps these are different editions or updated editions as the day progresses? What of course would be horribly concerning would be if the Record decided not to include this story in newspapers sent to Elmira residents specifically in order to protect the tender sensitivities of a multi national, multi billion dollar corporation (Lanxess Canada). I will for the moment believe otherwise until I know for certain. ........................................................................................................ The article is excellent for the simple reason that it tells the public that the Elmira Water Crisis is not over despite Ministry of Environment and Lanxess attempts to suggest otherwise. The "suggest otherwise" includes an upcoming new Control Order from the MOE/MECP as well as attempts to induce TAG (Technical Advisory Group) to join into conversations about accepting a cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers that does not fully achieve Ontario Drinking Water Standards. The article is less than excellent in that it focuses on two items that exactly coincide with what Lanxess/MECP want. That is NDMA and groundwater when the real issue on the east side including the Stroh and Martin farms is soils contaminated with dioxins/furans, DDT and other Persistent Organic Pollutants. The guilty parties continue to delay and deflect, skills that they have honed for decades. ................................................................................................................... Regarding the sub-title above I will go into further details tomorrow. This issue shows either an incredible coincidence regarding protecting soil from erosion or more likely strong evidence of the same minds (corporate & bureaucratic) "solving" the identical problem with the same solution. Of interest is that the two "solutions" are the same yet one is on the Uniroyal/Lanxess property and the other is on the Stroh farm to the east.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2020 TO ALL !

CHRISTMAS WISH LIST

A pox on all living politicians might be too close to home what with Covid-19 and all. I read in today's Record that our Republican friends south of the border have a gut instinct not to give $2000 to individuals and $4000 to couples as a form of Covid financial relief. Apparently their gut instinct is all about balancing the budget and avoiding debt and greater interest payments. At the same time these very same politicians have no problem voting in favour of $100 billion here and $100 billion there especially if it's for military planes, ships, trucks, tanks, guns etc. While the phrase pound foolish and penny wise hardly applies to either expenditure, you can see my point. It's all about choices. Citizens and voters, the buggers, often vote for the other guy when you give them a present but military contractors, being more appreciative, tend to donate money to the party and individuals that send contracts their way. Hey getting elected to Congress is expensive and don't you forget it. (They don't). ............................................................................................................ O.K. how about a pox on politicians abusing the current Covid crisis by surrepticiously slipping lumps of coal into Omnibus bills? Doug Ford certainly seems to have been converted medically (Covid-19) but not so much environmentally. Conservation Authorities have made lots of mistakes (eg. Grand River Construction Authority) but they've also reduced development in flood palins and helped restore wetlands and woodlots. Federally certain oil pipeline projects don't seem to ever die. Sure Alberta thrives on natural resource extraction but it is going to end and yesterday would not have been premature. Back to Ford it seems as if we never learn until it's too late. Our climate, due to human pollution is well and truly buggered and our water sources are just around the corner. Permitting more and more gravel pits along the Grand River and in other natural areas is just plain death by a thousand cuts. ......................................................................................................................... I would like to wake up tomorrow with both climate change and Covid in our rearview mirror. I especially would like to wake up and know that our elected representatives, be they municipal, regional, provincial or federal were going to stop lying to us. I despise liars and I despise professional liars more. What kind of a system is it when even democracy is all about lying to the public about almost everything? Yes there are hard truths that some people can't handle but the public have handled wars, invasions, depressions, pandemics, climate change, rampant cancers and still soldier on. It is the self-serving lying by both politicians and private industries that is the most reprehensible. It's all a game for them in which they lobby, buy and control politicians for their own financial ends as well as future control of the levers of power by both the politicians and private wealth. Democracy just like tyranny is all about manipulation and deception of the masses. "It's for their own good" style of lying when in fact it is solely for the increase in power and wealth of the already powerful and wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.

"RADICAL" ENVIRONMENTALISM IN ELMIRA, ONT. - IS IT POSSIBLE?

The following little gem I did not learn about until many, many years afterwards. In the early days (1990-1993) there was talk among APT members about bringing in the "big guns". Greenpeace, Environmental Defence, EarthFirst and groups with a multinational, if not worldwide reputation were front and centre. It has been my understanding for about the last twenty years that that idea was "democratically" voted down by APT members. Of course I was an APT member at the time and was, like most of the rest, not solicited for my vote on the matter. In fact in hindsight I expect that the issue was kept very close to home, as in perhaps maybe even only four or five members of the coordinating committee for APT. I will suggest that as I am still in contact with two of the earliest days APT coordinators that it behooves me to ask again some pointed questions on the matter. .......................................................................................................... One of the arguments used against bringing in the "big guns" was that it would offend the very conservative, quiet and religious population of Elmira thirty years ago. Of course however accurate that was then, it certainly is less so nowadays with the major influx of new residents since. I have my own ideas as to both who on APT and why they did not want others stepping in and possibly leading the charge. Finally it's even possible that the new APT leadership after, Susan Rupert, truely believed that they could sucessfully slay the twin dragons of Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario M.O.E. all by themselves. Well that sure hasn't worked to the point that they have become cheerleaders now for that pair and their ongoing feeble and unsucessful efforts. .......................................................................................................................... Perhaps it's way too late now. But a steer can always try. For example think about citizen activists ignoring protocol and trespassing laws and taking their own soil samples. Wow wouldn't that give Lanxess, MOE/MECP and their political fellow travellors nightmares?

AIR POLLUTION SOURCES ARE SHIFTING

In general, Waterloo Region reflects the shift away from industrial manufacturing, similar to other parts of Canada as well as the U.S. Anybody heard of the U.S. rustbelt? My understanding is that references Detroit, Flint and other former U.S. major manufacturing locations whether of automobiles, refrigerators, furniture, washers, dryers and so much more. Locally in Waterloo Region, water demand from industry has been drastically reduced. Do you recall decades ago, claims that a pipeline to Lake Huron (?), Lake Ontario (?) or whimisically at the time Lake Erie were on the front burner? Later it was determined that for environmental reasons Waterloo Region was stuck with taking water by pipeline from their own watershed which means Lake Erie. Things have since changed dramatically. The Region of waterloo have gained expertise in managing contaminated groundwater supplies in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. Also at great expense Grand River water can be used and treated and finally industrial demand has plummeted. ............................................................................................................... Along with this there is good news environmentally. Both air and water pollution has been reduced simply by the lessening of everyday industrial operations. For those not in the know, our Ministry of Environment does not remotely stop ongoing industrial pollution. It merely regulates it via either Certificates of Approval (C. of A. formerly) and now Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECA). Yes folks these are exactly what their name implies. They are APPROVALS for ongoing, everyday pollution based upon the ridiculous and outdated theory that our environment can absorb and mitigate a certain level of toxins on an ongoing basis. Furthermore it is based on the wholly arrogant, self-serving idea that human beings with calculators and computers can exactly measure the loading to our soil, ground/surface water and air and determine exactly how much each individual polluter can add to the toxic load without causing a catastrophe. That this thinking has been a gross failure should be self-evident. Climate change is merely the most obvious. Groundwater and soil contamination does have a small component of mitigation euphimistically referred to by consultants as natural attenuation. It does not work quickly nor at all for many major contaminants yet is heavily relied upon by professional fairy tale marketers. Lastly we still depend on "Dilution is the solution to pollution". The theory is dump your crap in rivers and creeks and it keeps getting diluted as it enters larger rivers, lakes and finally the ocean. Anybody recall claims that our oceans, coral beds, fish stocks etc. are in great shape and increasing? Hardly. ....................................................................................................... On December 15/20 the Waterloo Region Record published an article titled "Wildfires are now top source of air toxins". Wildfires have taken over from industrial sources. However why do you think that wildfires in California, Oregon, British Columbia and around the world are increasing? Climate change folks. Forests and woodlands are hotter and drier from release of greenhouse gases and accompanying increased tempuratures, melting of polar ice and so much more. We are on an environmental merry go round and can't seem to get off of it. Covid may be awful but to date pales in comparison with Climate Change.

AGGREGATE INDUSTRY WOES IN PUSLINCH (& Elsewhere)

Leah Gerber has written another excellent environmental story in the Waterloo Region Record last week. It is titled "Environmentalists want aggregate companies to act responsibly in Puslinch Township". Now of course the head cheese of the Ontario, Stone, Sand and Gravel Association, Norm Cheesman, was also interviewed and as normal for a lobbying group, sings the praises of the aggregate industry. Mostly it's self-serving nonsense however. I particularly enjoyed the claim that "The majority of the township haul roads being used by aggregate trucks were paid for and built by the aggregate companies at no cost to the taxpayers". So are we to believe that the gravel pits came first and Township roads were built later. Bullcrap. Possibly the haul roads on the privately owned gravel pit property were built by the aggregate companies but the public roads that the loaded gravel trucks use, certainly were not. ....................................................................................................................... The latest concern of local residents is the sale of the Lake Family farm property that runs along Mill Creek. That creek has had a couple of very bad years with the spill of aviation fuel into the creek near the 401 highway a couple of years ago. A Zone Change request wiil go to Puslinch Council some time this coming spring. As Woolwich Township and many others have learned the hard way, it is rare for political defeats at councils to actually stop proposed aggregate operations in their tracks. They are like zombies that never die no matter how much truth inflicted damage they sustain to their credibility or to the viability of the operation. ........................................................................................................... The most recent example here in Woolwich is the recently approved Jigs Hollow Pit expansion to a below water table gravel pit, right beside the Grand River. outside of Winterbourne.

NEW REMEDIATION /CLEANUP GOALS ARE COMING

Back when Elmira residents were angry about the eminently forseeable environmental damage done by Uniroyal Chemical and the Ministry of Environment's negligence, the promises of a Cadillac cleanup were front and centre. Everything from a total restoration of our groundwater to a total cleanup of the Canagagigue Creek were absolutely being given by the guilty parties. There were absolutely no ifs, ands or buts. It was an attempt by the guilty parties to mitigate their guilt by accepting responsibility and promising a total cleanup. ..................................................................................................... That was then whereas now it's all a different tune from the MOE/MECP and Lanxess Canada. Now it's all about being reasonable and accepting the inevitability of a less than perfect cleanup. Now we are being advised that the new and upcoming MOE/MECP Control Order will be flexible. It will possibly not even have a new mandated completion date because Lanxess don't want one. It was all a mistake etc. back in 1989 to have ever given out a date, apparently, they now say. .................................................................................................................. This of course is the charade that the MOE/MECP routinely play on the public. They initially lay a strict Control Order on polluters with the nudge, nudge, wink, wink private understanding that down the road, as soon as the public and media have been distracted with other issues, the onerous Control Order will be "amended". In other words it will be made much more palatable and much less onerous on the polluter. Also the cleanup will be much less expensive and of much less quality.

THE HUMAN CONDITION - IMPOSING ONE'S WILL UPON OTHERS

There are lots of jokes about being either leaders or follwers. One of them is in regards to the advantage of being the lead dog in a dog sled. Something to the effect that if you're not the lead dog then the only view you have is of the dog's butt immediately in front of you. Hopefully that view is not characteristic of the human condition. Regardless am I the only one who has noticed the plethora of short men in politics? Seriously just look around the municipal and regional councils in Waterloo Region over the last fifty years. I could run off a list of names but why embarass Cowan, Wideman, Zehr, Martin, Deutshman and all the others. My suspicion only is that some short boys who are picked on in school, end up being short men who want to reverse that situation. Yes I admit this is unresearched psychology by me (> 6 ' tall) but what the heck I'm only spitballing here on that topic. .................................................................................................................... On a more serious bent I have long observed a "get along to go along " attitude among politicians. In other words, provincially of federally it's perfectly O.K. to criticize or insult members of opposing political parties, however at the municipal level where indeed many politicians make no bones about their party affiliations, it still is a no no to personally attack fellow councillors. Generally the rule is to not throw mud at a council colleague because the public may interpret that as all or most councillors are unworthy. Hence the ongoing outburst regarding mayor Les Armstrong over in Wilmot is extraordinary. Sure he messed up regarding "Black Lives Matter" but looking at his police background and more, I did not find it surprising. That he publicly apologized twice shows that his common political sense quickly took over which is also not surprising. ............................................................................................................... In Woolwich Township some councillors also quickly attacked former mayor Todd Cowan over his self-serving financial irregularities. These included Mark Bauman and Bonnie Bryant. Mark was seriously upset over Todd's environmental stance regarding Chemtura (Uniroyal) and the citizens' committee's (CPAC) strained relations with the dishonest and deceptive polluter. Hence he was on the attack. Bonnie on the other hand I am only guessing about. Maybe it was an appropriate response to apparent fraud and taxpayer theft or she was seriously offended with Todd's paternalistic, superior attitude to women either in politics or in general. ................................................................................................... Strangely, to me at least at the time, was Woolwich's support of mayor Sandy Shantz's self-serving financial errors and multiple transgressions in her election Financial Statements. To this day she still has not fully complied with the conditional order of Justice David Broad reinstating her to the mayor's chair. He ordered that she resubmit her election Financial Statements and include ALL her expenses as defined by the Municipal Elections Act (MEA). That she has not complied with and some smart operator at some point may very well be able to reverse some (or many) Woolwich Council decisions based upon her failure to fully comply with the judge's decision. .......................................................................................................... Municipal councillors especially do not make great money with the exception of the mayors who double dip as regional councillors. They also are subject to public criticsm in Letters To The Editor, Blogs, newspaper stories and editorials as well. So what is their motivation? Some of it is personal recognition and even a certain amount of no publicity is bad publicity attitude. Others may have legitimate concerns that they feel they can address as councillors. Lastly there are those who simply like to be able to boss their fellow citizens around. Whether it's lecturing delegates to council who get a touch feisty or even simply being the ones who make municipal zoning, property tax and by-law decisions, it makes them feel important. It's all a bonus when after a suitable length of time on council they get buildings or other structures named after them to immortalize their importance to the community. The human condition for some.

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION & PARKS....OR...MINISTRY OF EXPANDED CORPORATE POLLUTION?

Seriously? Does anyone who reads this Blog not know the answer to that question? .................................................................................................................. Two days ago the Waterloo Region Record published an article titled "Premier Ford delivers an early Christmas-for his friends". The article is a listing of recent self-serving legislative changes. Self-serving that is to friends, political supporters and cronies of the Ontario Premier. You know between Donald Trump in the U.S. and Doug Ford in Canada (Ontario), we electors really are incredibly dumb. Those are two people, born with silver spoons in their mouths, inherently non-intellectual, non-smart, non-common sense individuals totally qualified to play golf, drink beer and socialize. ........................................................................................................................ Some of these Christmas presents are non-environmental in nature such as letting owners and directors of long term care homes "...off the hook for liability for their well-documented shoddy operations during COVID." Others such as hammering provincial Conservation Authorities are definitely environmental as they give developers free rein to do what they do best which is make money at others expense including at the environment's expense. Allowing Doug Ford's friend Charles McVety "...to get his Christian College turned into a university." really is an abuse of authority plus a disgusting precedent which can only help diminish the value of university degrees. Even the logging industry in Ontario can smile as Doug Ford through Schedule 8 "...exempts them from prohibitions against destroying the habitat of endangered species." ............................................................................................................ Ahh the joys of power and money. The rich get richer as they always have by destroying fellow human beings, other "lesser" species here on earth and the environment itself. Rejoice all you merry gentlemen that at least a few of us are profiting from the slow destruction of planet earth.

"CHARADES, FLEECE JOBS, SNAKEBITTEN, BULLSHIT, YEARS OF LIES, ROTTED FRUIT," AND PRIVATE MECP/COMPANY DISCUSSIONS

What is the significance of the above title? How about the fact that firstly it describes the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP), Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess, their consultants and Woolwich Township behaviours. Secondly not a single word above is a quote or other comment from me. Rather they are quotes from knowlegeable, longtime Elmira stakeholders (five of them) who know corruption when they hear it, see it and smell it. All levels of government from municipal, regional, provincial and federal all know the truth and all to date still support the polluter and its regulator's right to spread fairy tales to the public rather than the truth. ................................................................................................. Corruption can be defined as "infected with errors". Personally I'm a little more comfortable with a definition of "knowingly infected with errors" however I believe the above listed authorities are corrupt with either definition. Woolwich Township councillors to their shame have been confronted with honest and knowledgable citizens sharing truth with them on many issues and they still have embraced, coddled, protected and promoted falshoods in order to enhance the personal interests of parties that are not in the public interest. It is the bane of democracies that money buys political power and that truth and facts are flexible. Dear God just look at the example of that pathological liar (soon to be former president) south of the border who just makes up "facts" as he goes. We had a local example of that a few years back in Elmira and quite frankly he was less dangerous to the public interest than normal politicians who pick and choose their lies more carefully. ..................................................................................................... It is not and never has been illegal for politicians to lie to the public. At the same time, these very same politicians bemoan and wail about a loss of public trust. The stupid jerks want it both ways. They want to lie and deceive constantly for their personal gain while wondering aloud why many citizens won't believe them regarding Covid-19. They wonder why many citizens don't trust them regarding vaccines. They wonder why Americans don't believe their government after it told them that Saddam Hussein had "weapons of mass destruction" to justify invading Iraq. He didn't. For decades the U.S. had a war on drugs, a war on terrorism, a war on Blacks (undeclared?), a war on "socialist" governments such as Chile, Venezuela, Nicaraugua. Federally Justin Trudeau has threatened confiscation of legally owned, registerd private property of law abiding citizens followed by an attempt to sell needed higher carbon taxes to the public to slow global warming. And he wonders why Canadians don't believe him? In Ontario we have recently had a series of legislative bills passed with titles claiming efforts to assist in fighting Covid-19 but paragraphs included attacking Conservation Authorities, environmental efforts and even the ability to sue Long Term Care (LTC) homes for negligence. .................................................................................................................. In my opinion the only requirement to be a successful politician is the willingness to lie upon the request of your political superiors.

TAG ARE IN A DIFFICULT POSITION

The facts are clear, the direction should be, but the how to do it likely is problematic. Last Friday I suggested that TAG needed to tell Lanxess publicly that "They are corporate bullies and know it alls, unswayed by truth and facts." I then added "And TAG need to tell them that, publicly!" I stand by that action as being due and overdue while at the same time trying to appreciate being in TAG's position, which I am not. As far as due and overdue let me say that this spring will be the SEVEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY (2014-2021) of my personal discovery and subsequent public announcement of the presence of a major Drain (Stroh-SDDB) running parallel, for approximately 175 metres, to the Lanxess/Stroh property line. This Drain (SDDB) is a bare ten metres from the property line and situated on the Stroh property. It was and is absolutely contemptible and disgraceful for the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP), Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura, RMOW, Woolwich Township, GRCA and anyone else to have kept quiet about this significant land feature so close and so relevant to Uniroyal contamination migration for so long. That was incredibly self-serving for both the MOE/MECP and Uniroyal plus sucessors, and all their partners in pollution and fellow travellors to have kept their mouths shut at literally hundreds of public meetings (UPAC, CPAC etc.) regarding it. Kudos to Dr. Dan Holt and Vivienne Delaney for attending that evening in May 2014 and witnessing the presence of the Stroh Drain. ................................................................................................................. The hiding and continued minimizing of the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) is but one of a multitude of environmental scams, shams and charades undertaken by Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura and now Lanxess over the decades. I listed some but not all in yesterday's post here in the Advocate. I also in last Friday's post here mentioned how TAG's inexperience by having so many intentional new members cost them the strong leadership and experience of Dr. Richard Jackson. Unfortunately that inexperience, not so much technically, but in dealing with professional manipulaters and deceivers continues today. There are three new members with frankly some excellent credentials. If new members were introduced slowly it wouldn't be a problem. But for recently appointed members to be expected to dig in their heels and confront the polluter for his intransgience, intentional obtuseness and outright deception is asking a lot. Perhaps more experienced members such as Sebastian, Linda and David Hofbauer are up for the challenge. Sebastian certainly has been front and centre in this battle. David unfortunately is heavily involved with his job and career which is unfortunate as he is very knowledgable and I believe honest. These problems are all intentional, courtesy of Chemtura/Lanxess and Woolwich Township (S. Shantz specifically). Or as Richard Clausi put it last Friday "The charade continues, and sadly, Sandy Shantz's dissolution of an effective, inquisitive and combative CPAC several years ago has now yielded its' rotted fruit." Having watched and listened carefully for the last five plus years I believe that most of the TAG members are intelligent and honest. Unfortunately not all. ......................................................................................................................... TAG has other problems including not being allowed to hear first hand from other longterm citizen stakeholders. Sandy Shantz's indebtedness for campaign support and advice from Pat McLean (former councillor & mayoralty candidate) was repaid to her (and Chemtura) by denying the public the right to either ask questions or make comments at public RAC and TAG meetings. For this Sandy will eventually pay the price. Also TAG's Chair is not a local citizen (unlike Dr. Richard Jackson) but a professional hydrogeologist appointed and paid by Woolwich Township, likely with assistance from Lanxess. Other potential conflicts of interest have been slimmed down but not eliminated with the resignation of Pat McLean. Woolwich Township were made aware of the seriousness of these conflicts of interest in 2017 by numerous written witness statements by local citizens given to them. Woolwich did nothing as they already knew that the process was as polluted as the ground and surface water in Elmira. ......................................................................................................... All the guilty, lying parties want to do is to delay, delay and delay. They have succeeded admirably. Eventually all the original stakeholders and forced to be activists will be gone and trust me the lying and deception however will never be gone.

REGIONAL COUNCILLORS UPDATED ON LANXESS, MECP AND PUBLIC CONSULTATION CHARADE

As mentioned last Saturday four CPAC members (Dr. Dan, Richard, Viv and I have sent e-mails to TAG, Woolwich Council, Ontario Ministry of Environment and two media outlets namely the Waterloo Region Record and the Woolwich Observer. Also of great note are two letters/e-mails sent to the TAG Chair and members last September dated September 2 and 9 by Dr. Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach, the only member of both TAG and CPAC (Citizens Public Advisory Committeee). The September 9/20 letter/e-mail is an outstanding statement of principles describing the need for facts and evidence in decision making versus "professional", "expert" opinions by client driven consultants working for Lanxess Canada. It also states Sebastian's core principles and position regarding the years long coverup and gamesmanship surrounding the Strh farm contamination with Uniroyal Chemical solvents, NDMA, dioxins/furans, DDT and many other toxic chemicals. ..................................................................................................................... It is unfortunate that this coverup of the extent, severity and appropriate remediation of the Stroh farm is but only one of a long list of cleanup scams, shams and charades over the last thirty years. Way back in the late 90s and early 2000s I publicly displayed a large banner that read "The cleanup is a sham". All the guilty parties (Lanxess, MOE/MECP, Woolwich Township) have been lying and pretending to be first and foremost concerned with both public health and the health of the environment. In reality it's all been about minimizing the truth and the needed costs to properly clean up Uniroyal Chemical's mess, all the while maximizing positive public relations for the guilty parties. ............................................................................................................ So what are some of the other cleanup scams foisted upon unsuspecting Woolwich, Elmira and downstream communities? The first and possibly still biggest was the DNAPL (dense non aqueous phase liquids) scam, aided and abetted by private discussions between Uniroyal and APT Environment members between 1992 and 1994. Let me be very clear here. That is surrepticious discussions between two or three only APT members and Uniroyal Chemical. The other APT members were also lied to. The sweetener may have been false promises of greater creek protection/cleanup in exchange for dropping DNAPL opposition. The greater creek protection/cleanup plans still havn't occurred. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Secondly the failure to hydraulically contain 100% of Uniroyal Chemical's contaminated groundwater, particularly shallow groundwater discharging to the creek. Other scams have included excluding other major polluters in town such as Nutrite and Varnicolor Chemical from full public scrutiny. This scam was between Uniroyal and the MOE/MECP. The severity of the ammonia contamination from Nutrite was also hidden for over a decade from the public. Promises to triple off-site pumping of contaminated groundwater in November 2012 has never happened. Likely phony excavations of GP-1 and capping of GP-2 also join the list. Failures to follow up on known east side contamination onto the Stroh farm as far back as the 1980s is/was a major scam. The sham of public consultation simply degenerated into a farce under Sandy Shantz and the last two Woolwich Councils to all their shame. The whole scam of hydraulic containment both on and off the Uniroyal site versus appropriate source removal is also a mjor cause of the now admitted failure to remediate Elmira's drinking water aquifers by 2028. ................................................................................................................. As per the title above, I have sent the Friday e-mails along to our regional councillors yesterday. I expect nothing or less from them. Let's be honest here. They are politicians first and human beings second, generally speaking. Any that aren't are carefully managed by the rest. My purpose in keeping regional council in the loop is simply to reduce their plausible deniability. If and when there is a real reckoning there needs to be a record of their complicity and lack of action.

CLASS: SOME HAVE IT & OTHERS DON'T

Some CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) members showed exactly zero class with their behaviour towards the new CPAC members appointed by the Todd Cowan council in the spring of 2011. The new CPAC, under Chair Dr. Dan Holt, welcomed old CPAC members to public CPAC meetings including recognizing and assisting their ability to speak their opinions and positions. The old CPAC, after receiving respectful overtures invited Sebastian, Vivienne and Dr. Holt to a meeting held at the Elmira Library in the summer of 2011. Old CPAC members Sandra Bair, Susan Bryant and Pat McLean then accosted and verbally abused Dr. Holt and Vivienne when they arrived by invitation and in good faith. Sebastian did not show up until later. Along with the three classless wonders was Ken Drieger and one or two other old CPAC members who showed class by not ganging up on their invited guests. Sandra, Susan and Pat insulted, ridiculed and called the new CPAC members motivations into question. In a nutshell, Pat and Susan especially, had long received preferential treatment from Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura as well as from Woolwich Township. Their wee noses were hugely out of joint and they took it out slyly and nastily on two newly appointed CPAC members. That's a lack of class. ........................................................................................................... Yesterday four CPAC (Citizens Public Advisory Committee) sent e-mails to the MOE/MECP, Woolwich Council, TAG chair and members and to two different local media. Mine was the first and it simply was a copy of my Elmira Advocate post from yesterday titled "SNAKEBITTEN" LANXESS FEAR POISONOUS BITES FROM BELOW GROUND SNAKES ON THE STROH PROPERTY!" Two of the four e-mails from current CPAC members specifically mentioned the current TAG members and complimented them. This despite the fact that the pretend mayor Sandy Shantz rudely, ignorantly and corruptly removed the current CPAC in 2015 and replaced them with her invention of RAC and TAG. The current CPAC's behaviour towards citizen volunteers on TAG has been respectful and courteous. That is class not to blame third parties for the disgraceful behaviour of others. .......................................................................................................................... The comments made by three of the four CPAC members yesterday harshly criticized Lanxess Canada and the Ontario MOE/MECP. They harshly criticized never ending lies, bullsh.. and more. That is approximately 31 years of lies and bullsh.. from the polluter and their friends and allies including some on Woolwich Council. Citizens are not obligated to be forever kind, generous, sympathetic, and cordial with professional liars unwilling to be reasonable. If more citizens had stepped up years ago and said "Enough bullsh..!", things could have been much different now. Instead our Township Councils have generally aided and abetted the ongoing charades passing for public consultation and the ongoing manipulation and deception of the public.

SNAKEBITTEN! LANXESS FEAR POISONOUS BITES FROM BELOW GROUND SNAKES ON THE STROH PRPOERTY!

Perhaps the title above is somewhat figurative versus literal. Nevertheless it warms this old environmental activist's heart to see and hear the word "snakebitten" used to describe Ramin Ansari's (Lanxess Canada) instantaneous reaction to any suggestions from TAG members that more investigation needs to be done on the Stroh farm nearest to the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB). Last evening at the RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) meeting was a prime example. We will return shortly to Ramin's instinctive leap away from dangerous snake bites. ............................................................................................................... Yesterday here in the Advocate I described my opinion of RAC in general. Yet another example was the response to Chair Sandy Shantz's request for comments on the Minutes of the last meeting. A meeting held ONE YEAR AGO! I described yesterday several problematic comments in those Minutes. A year after that meeting, if anybody had read the Minutes, they should have had questions of clarification at the minimum. There were no questions. Zero. There were no comments. Zero. There were no clarifications requested. Zero. There were no disagreements. Zero. ............................................................................................................ Ramin's bullsh.. continues to develop and improve. In reference to a new, upcoming Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP) Control Order, likely 2/3 written by Lanxess, he advises that continued Elmira aquifer cleanup could actually cause greater environmental harm. Wow that is brassy! Remind me to tell the next cop who pulls me over for speeding that ticketing me may cause more speeding in the future. ........................................................................................................................ December 2021 is the target for the completion of the Risk Assessment for the Canagagigue Creek. Ramin suggests that greater stakeholder input could delay that. Aww that's so inconvenient for him and Lanxess. By the end of February 2021 there is supposed to be a fullsome report on the east side (Stroh property) coming. Possibly this is the same memorandum coming from TAG to Lanxess. This will incorporate TAG's concerns about the east side which will be pulled together and synthesized. Dustin Martin expressed some of his (& TAG's) concerns such as the lack of delineation dealing with stratigraphy including how much protection the Upper Aquitard on the Stroh property is giving to the Municipal Aquifer. Also there are NDMA plume maps which indicate contamination across the Lanxess property line onto the Stroh property. Therefore delineation is incomplete including soil delineation as well. This soil delineation should include around the Uniroyal/Lanxess waste pits as well as the southern end of the Stroh property. TAG therefore requests an updated report from Lanxess/GHD on these concerns. I commend Dustin Martin for this position but frankly am doubtful that either Lanxess or the MOE/MECP give a damn. ....................................................................................................................... WHAT IS REQUIRED FROM TAG IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC INTEREST IS NOTHING SHORT OF A BLUNT CONDEMNATION OF THE STROH PROPERTY INVESTIGATION AND COVERUP TO DATE. ........................................................................................................... Nothing less will get through to Lanxess and the MOE/MECP. They have long ago made their private deals and it's all about "managing" TAG and the public opposition. They will talk and talk and make noises about incorporating criticism and comments while simply wearing down, over time, polite opposing opinions. Ramin Ansari made that abundantly clear last evening. He stated that the "Gap" area is well resolved. It is not. He stated that Lanxess will not open the door to another investigation of the SDDB area without the MECP's insistence. Obviously he is confident that Lanxess's private deal with them will hold up. He stated that there was testing at the bottom end of both Landfill Creek and the Stroh Drain. That is totally inadequate and a joke and he knows it. Dr. Richard Jackson (first TAG Chair) walked away from TAG in their very early days due to their inexperience leading to a lack of confidence in confronting Chemtura/Lanxess. TAG need to stand up on their hind feet and simply say NO NO NO NO and more NO. Ramin and Lanxess have made it clear that politeness and professionalism do not work with them. They are corporate bullies and know it alls unswayed by truth and facts. And TAG need to tell them that, publicly!

VIRTUAL RAC MEETING TONITE- I"M "ATTENDING" BUT UNDER PROTEST AND IN DISGUST

WHY under protest and why go at all? The TAG Chair appears biased (pro Lanxess), the RAC Chair Sandy most certainly is, RAC are generally worse than useless with the possible exception of the Region of Waterloo; as I posted earlier this is their first meeting in a year and finally the public are not allowed to either ask questions or make comments. In other words it's all about appearances. Look everybody we sit down and talk about cleaning up the aquifers and the creek and we've proven that we are willing to talk about it forever if that will save us actually having to take the actions necessary. The actions necessary would tick off the polluter who made the mess in the first place but we the politicians certainly wouldn't want to cause them any offence. ....................................................................................................................... Page 2 of the Minutes of the Remediation Advisory Committee (RAC) from December 12, 2019 (YES that is 2019!) advise that TAG particiapated in "...a Lanxess audit to ensure that community engagement commitments were being followed." Wow could that be the equivalent of the Nazi party being audited by the Gestapo regarding humane treatment of certain ethnic groups being exterminated? Or perhaps closer to home that would be the equivalent of various U.S. police associations participating in an audit to ensure that black Americans are always treated respectfully by the police. It never fails to astound me as to how hypocritical our various big shots and local politicians can be. Do they really think that people are that incredibly stupid that they buy all the bull that those dishonest brokers are willing to sell? ...........................................................................................................,... On page 3 of last year's Minutes (Dec. 12/19) there is a discussion regarding a new cleanup date which Lanxess doesn't want as well as alternative usues for our still contaminated aquifer and also writing a new MOE/MECP Control Order to encapsulate these changes. Some of the comments were just plain idiotic but not allowing the public to say so publicly is why they now can spout as much crap as they've wanted to spout for decades. This includes Sandy blathering about maintaining "...the momentum toward clean up." Please! Jason Rice of the MECP suggests that a new order "...would have built-in performance metrics to drive the next steps for the remediation of the aquifer." So why didn't the last several Control Orders have those "built-in performance metrics"? Let me answer that: It's because Control Orders, just like the Ministry of Environment themselves, are paper tigers. IT's all bullsh.. folks, never ending bullsh.. . .............................................................................................................................. Page 4 is even funnier if it wasn't so pathetic. I think that these words came from the TAG Chair (Tiffany) as she claimed that because the 2028 aquifer cleanup can not be met that "...there is no alternative but to extend the 30-year timeline." That is more than bullsh..! There are several alternatives especially when you realize that there is slightly more than 7 1/2 years to go until August 2028. How about not using only the "cheapest and least effective" remediation technology of pump and treat? How about penalties for Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura and Lanxess FAILING to meet the mandated Control Order 2028 deadline because all four companies refused to listen to citizens advising more source removal be it excavation or otherwise both on and off the Uniroyal Chemical site? How about real public consultation with much less backroom private deal making between the MOE/MECP and the polluter which simply makes an even greater farce of what they sell as public consultation?

WHAT A DOG'S BREAKFAST OF CONFUSED GROUNDWATER MONITORING RESULTS

You know in this day of computerization you would think that Lanxess and predecessors could have come up with a user friendly easy to see record of groundwater results for any individual well chosen. In fact I have zero doubts that they have such a thing for themselves, their consultants and their friends. Of course their friends do not include either nuetral citizens or citizens critical of the company and its cleanup efforts. That said I did receive several years back a copy of their E:Dat program. I found it underwhelming. .................................................................................................................. So I've spent several hours going over numerous Annual Monitoring Reports (AMR) specifically looking for groundwater results for many east side wells. Again the results were underwhelming. The long list of wells right on the Lanxess/Stroh property line are underrepresented although certainly the destruction of so many during the 1987 excavations of BAE-1 and RB-1 and RB-2 is a factor. There are no signs of any results for OW 25, OW 26, OW 27, OW 29, OW 30, OW 31, OW 33, OW 34 and OW 35 or OW 39. That is ridiculous. Other wells in that area such as OW 28 and OW 36-5R certainly have high contaminant concentrations such as NDMA, 2,4-Dichlorophenol, and 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol. Also well OW 37-5A has a history of high detections. Well 8-d again right on the property boundary, screened in the Municipal Upper Aquifer had an astounding concentration of NDMA of 2,500 parts per trillion (ppt) in 1994 with an Ontario drinking water standard (ODWS) of 9 ppt. The fact that this concentration is UPGRADIENT of the recognized flow of this aquifer from north-west to south-east is very concerning. Also well OW 38-5R as late as last year had NDMA concentrations just barely below the ODWS despite no new contaminants deposited in the waste pits since 1970 and excavations in 1987 and 1993. ................................................................................................. Other wells have concentrations of contaminants all over the place. Now this includes wells with Non Detects in the shallow aquifer but with high concentrations in deeper aquifers. It also includes wells that would appear to be downgradient (groundwater flow) from RPE-4 & 5 having very high concentrations of contaminants and others not. Same thing with wells that are downgradient from surface flow of the overflowing east side waste pits. Surprises included NDMA in the deep municipal aquifer at well OW 7-29 (N.E. corner of Lanxess) of 14,400 and 16,500 parts per trillion just last year. What the hell is that! Meanwhile a mere few feet away (east) on the Stroh property we had a "cleanup" in early 2019 that went all of 5.9 inches (15 cm.) deep. The deep municipal aquifer well (OW 7-29) meanwhile is 29 metres deep! Again there are both high and low results in these various wells south-west of the Stroh farm and property. I'm beginning to wonder if there are still more "anomolies" or better yet dumping secrets that we the public are still unaware of so many decades later.

I HAVE TO ASSUME THAT THE ONTARIO MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT OPERATE CORRUPTLY ACROSS THE ENTIRE PROVINCE

I don't think that Elmira just got "lucky" with the sweetheart deals, private negotiations and neverending coverups whose purpose is to minimize both the culpability of private companies and the MOE as well as to minimize the extent of contamination hence the money spent to "remediate" it. Multi-national, multi-billion dollar companies actually find hiring lawyers far cheaper than spending the money they saved with improper or illegal waste disposal on belated cleanups. ...................................................................................................... Here in Elmira the number of lies, deceptions and environmental coverups are shocking. We had multiple sources to the destruction of our drinking water aquifers yet both Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario MOE found it better for themselves to blame everything on Uniroyal. No wonder Uniroyal initially fought like hell to share the blame but eventually the MOE knew that they would wear the responsibility for ignoring and condoning not only Nutrite and Varnicolor Chemical (Union St. & Lot 91) but also potentially Sanyo, McKee (slim?), Borg, Roxton, multiple gas stations, Thur, multiple municipal landfills in town, the old Shirt Factory on Park St. and more. Therefore the Ontario MOE made Uniroyal an offer they couldn't refuse and they didn't. ........................................................................................................................ The hydrogeological evidence is slowly becoming clearer as the multiple sources (hot spots) off the Uniroyal site are being exposed as the contaminant plumes shrink back to their source areas around town. That said all the guilty parties intentionally ignored shallow soil sampling at these many sites decades ago that could have clarified the truth as to who were responsible. .................................................................................................... The provincial Environment Ministry are just like so many other government ministries that boast "world class" competencies and qualifications. All provincial ministries were created to solve or at least mitigate various problems. Unfortunately these "problems" are often public problems with private causes. Think of the Ministry of Labour as well as the MOE. The Labour portfolio was intended to keep labour peace and harmony mostly for the benefit of the owners/employers while telling workers that their employment standards would improve. Just look at the mess they have made on issues such as mass poisonings of rubber workers both in Waterloo Region and across the province. Ditto with the Environment Ministry and mass poisonings of air and water across the province. The fact of the matter is that many of our provincial ministries are simply for appearances. Amazing for example as to how expensive our education system is with results that absolutely are not world class. Yet the beneficiaries within the system claim that all is well. Look at our Long Term Care (LTC) homes across the province. Covid-19 has exposed the provincial government's underfunding and pathetic enforcement of rules and regulations. Meanwhile the private owners of these LTC homes are laughing all the way to the bank while their donated to favourite politicians and parties run interference for them. The system is both broken and rotten. Just like the MOE/MECP. The rot is at the top and buying and installing complicit managers is partly how they manage it. Legislation and rules preventing both accountability and transparency are also necessary. Lastly Freedom of Information (FOI) is wishful thinking as is true Whistleblower legislation. Those in charge never stop lying or manipulating. It's in their best interests but not ours.

THE PUBLIC FACE IS MOE CONTROL ORDERS VERSUS THE REALITY OF PRIVATE BILATERAL DEAL MAKING BETWEEN POLLUTERS AND GOVERNMENT

No morals, no ethics, no shame: that could be the mantra of both the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE) and of Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess. For good measure let's throw in Varnicolor Chemical and Nutrite although I admit that of the three polluters, I know the least about Nutrite. Ammonia for sure they contributed but they also were no slouches with NDMA, 2,4-d and more on and under their property. ................................................................................................................... It is usually better for the public interest when the guilty parties are publicly throwing mud and accusations at each other than when they are privately and comfortably scheming and negotiating with each other. That's when the sweetheart deals get brokered that absolve each other of blame and lessen the cleanup or mitigation of their illegal and unethical past activities. This is where our governments shine. Yes Dorothy all our governments shine in the fine art of manipulating public opinion in the direction they want whether for good or for evil. ............................................................................................................. The first Control Order laid on Uniroyal Chemical was dated April 13, 1984. This was a mere fourty two years after the company had begun dumping toxic liquid wastes, sludges, tars and solids onto their property, under the surface of their property and both directly and indirectly into the Canagagigue Creek. An honest and moral government would have shut have down the operation by then, arrested, charged and imprisoned senior company executives convicted of either environmental crimes or health crimes against humanity. Of course none of that occurred. ................................................................................................................. Along with better record keeping and more sampling of existing groundwater, monitoring wells; the MOE ordered new monitoring wells on the east side of the property close to RPE-1. This was the most northerly of the five retention pits (east side i.e. RPE). Specifically they wanted all the stratigraphic layers monitored in and around well OW 7. Now oddly while that was a simple and inexpensive request, Uniroyal embarked on a much more ambitious program on the east side. This encompassed fifteen individually numbered wells from OW 25 to OW 39 placed between RPE-4/RPE-5 and the extremely close Stroh property line. As mentioned previously, most of these were strangely screened in the Upper Aquitard (UAT) versus in the Upper Aquifer (UA or UAF) which is the water bearing and transferring layer of soils rather than the silty/clay less permeable UAT. ......................................................................................................... One possible reason for this is as follows. Every single well closest to RPE-4 and RPE-5 including OW 25, OW 27, OW 29, OW 31, OW 33, and OW 35 were screened solely in the Upper Aquitard (UAT). Meanwhile the wells closest to the Stroh property line included both screens in the UAF and the UAT. What the hell? Even more bizarre is the fact that after the 1987 excavations of waste pits BAE-1 and RB-1 and RB-2 located as well between RPE-4/RPE-5 and the Stroh property line; only three UAF wells were left standing along the property line namely OW 28, OW 32, and OW 39 although they were drilled in 1985, 1988 and 1986 respectively. Meanwhile every single UAT well drilled nearest RPE-4/RPE-5 in the Upper Aquitard (UAT) was destroyed, removed and grouted during the 1987 excavations. ......................................................................................................... To further confuse the narrative there were also in 1984 three wells drilled in the actual waste pit itself, RPE-4 and two wells in RPE-5. Finally four wells were drilled to the west of these two waste pits (RPE-4 and 5) namely OW 40, OW 41, OW 42 and OW 43 all of which are still there today. Oh and lastly Woolwich Township contracted with Conestoga Rovers in 1984 to drill monitoring wells and examine the municipally owned Bolender and First St. Landfills. All this from a minor and modest 1984 Control Order that ordered none of it...at least publicly? ................................................................................................................ Here is my take. The MOE grew some gonads and yelled and hollered at Uniroyal because they knew the town's drinking wells were toast and the public would have to be informed some time. Uniroyal yelled back and threatened legal action as usual. Private negotiations then took place. The actual reasoning for the weird timing of new wells and weird screening in the UAT was in order to "prove" privately that Uniroyal's liquid wastes had not crossed the Stroh property line via groundwater. This is an old, tried and true hydrogeological trick whereby water levels from different stratigraphic units are compared to each other rather than water levels in the same startigraphic unit (usually aquifers UA, MU etc.). Therefore comparing UAT water levels nearest RPE-4 and 5 with UAF water levels nearest the Stroh property line would "prove" that groundwater was flowing westwards away from the Stroh property. Was the Ontario MOE fooled or was this just more of the old boys nudge and wink private negotiations? Regardless the purpose was to dissemble, minimize the problem and lie to the public. As always.

HONEST EXPLANATIONS REQUIRED - THEY KNEW FOURTY YEARS AGO THAT THEY HAD CONTAMINATED THE STROH FARM & THE MUNICIPAL WELLS

I've just spent a couple of hours looking over the history of monitoring wells on the east side of RPE-4 and RPE-5. These wells therefore are located between the two largest "consolidation pits" RPE-4 and RPE-5 and the Stroh property line. In fact many of these wells are located within either inches or mere feet from the Stroh property. Of interest is the sheer number of wells located next to these two pits versus the very few further north beside RPE-1, 2, 3 (about 3) not to mention further south (perhaps 4). There have of course been a few more added in the last couple of years as Lanxess go through a pretend investigation of the Stroh farm. Back in the early 1980s there were about fourteen wells drilled beside RPE-4 and 5. Clearly they not only knew that their liquid wastes had flowed onto the Stroh farm but they knew that the two southern pits were by far the worst. ........................................................................................................ These fourteen wells were numbered from OW 25 to OW 39. Keep in mind that some of these wells had multiple screen depths such as OW 32 which was screened at three, six and eight metres depth. Four of them were drilled and screened into the Upper Aquifer namely OW 28-2, OW 32-3, OW 34-5 and OW 38-5. Oddly? all the rest were drilled into the Upper Aquitard. That in itself requires an explanation. ...................................................................................................... What also requires explaining is the number of wells which were shut down or abandoned early on. How odd that most of these wells were installed between 1981 and 1984 and yet clearly many were torn up and destroyed around 1987 as extensive cleanup and remediation was ongoing including excavation of nearby BAE-1 and RB-1 and RB-2 all prior to the supposed discovery of NDMA in the south wellfield in the fall of 1989. There are barely four of these wells still in operating order and only a couple of them are actually screened in the Upper Aquifer today. ....................................................................................................... The more I study and read the more obvious it becomes that all important environmental decisions have been decided behind closed doors while public consultation has all been a play managed by corrupt, incompetent and biased politicians looking to keep the public from understanding how badly they have been deceived and abused for many decades.

HAS MR. "BEEN CONSOLIDATED" i.e. BRIAN BEATTY BEEN CAUGHT AGAIN?

This posting is not an attempt to tease or poke fun at the Woolwich Observer, especially after yesterday's flattering posting here about our local newspaper. That said, the Merlihan brothers (hmm...one or both?) have advised me in the past that they got burned badly by publishing my testimony to them regarding Mr. Beatty being "consolidated" by Dr. David Ash of Uniroyal Chemical way back in the early 1990s. That particular incident involved Mr. Beatty quoting another hydrogeologist, Mr. Stan Feenstra, out of context regarding the 1% Solubility Rule and DNAPLS (dense non aqueous phase liquids). ................................................................................................................. Well danged but I'm going to do it again. I have of late been doing what I enjoy most and that is re-reading technical reports dealing with the contaminated former Uniroyal Chemical property here in Elmira, Ontario. Fortunately for me there is a lifetime of reading available. This of course is difficult for any new members of TAG or old members of RAC as they literally do not know what they do not know. There is of course no excuse for the old members of RAC not to have read many of these reports. The thing is RAC agencies and bureaucrats are there simply to give the public the impression that they care and are on top of things. What a joke. Next Thursday RAC are going to have their first meeting in a year! While municipal councils, TAG (Technical Advisory Group) and other committees of council have been holding virtual (Zoom meetings) for many months, RAC has not. Afterall they are primarily a knowingly and willingly uninformed group including the GRCA, Region of Waterloo, Woolwich Township, two TAG members, Lanxess and the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP). Even the MECP have turned over all their staff with decades of knowledge regarding this site. Now to be honest there are a couple of knowledgeable people present such as Eric Hodgins of the Region and perhaps one long bought and paid for Lanxess employee. ................................................................................................................ So what did I catch Mr. Beatty doing this time? In my experienced (and to gasps of horror and outrage from the entitled) and professional judgement I've caught Mr. Beatty again gilding the lily in regards to his presentation of hydrogeological data. The data is in multiple maps presented in the Annual Monitoring Report # 10, January 1992. These maps are contaminant plume maps of various toxic substances including benzene, toluene, phenols, chlorobenzene, NDMA etc. Keep in mind my use of the term "professional judgement" is based upon more than thirty years of reading, debating and discussing hydrogeological matters with folks with a four year university degree (BSc.) perhaps later combined with a MSc. and perhaps not. Also keep in mind that my "discussions" with experts, both honest and bought and paid for, has been seriously curtailed of late due to incompetent (at best) Woolwich Township politicos intentionally excluding opportunities for discussion with both the general public as well as with stakeholders such as myself who can hold their own with any and all hydrogeological experts. ..................................................................................................................... Mr. Beatty has portrayed the Upper Aquifer (UA) contaminants as being solely on the Uniroyal property (they are not) and as flowing solely west or south on the Uniroyal property versus east onto the Stroh property. Of course the fallacy of that has already been proven via the January 2019 excavations and partial cleanup of the northern end of the Stroh property along the Lanxess property line. That is public knowledge and undeniable. Mr. Beatty has also committed sins of omission by not including a major ground and surface water feature affecting off-site flow of liquid contaminants. These features include the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) which is located a mere ten metres from and parallel to the property line between Lanxess and the Stroh farm. It is also possible regarding sins of omission that Mr. Beatty has incorporated inappropriate monitoring wells along the property line to bolster his inaccurate position that everything stayed on the Uniroyal property. These inappropriate wells include one that is out of commission (grouted) and three others that are NOT screened in the Upper Aquifer as indicated but rather are screened in the Upper Aquitard (UAT versus UA). It would seem clear that using contaminant concentrations from wells screened in the wrong stratigraphic unit to describe contamination in a different unit is wrong if not potentially intentionally deceitful. This by the way is not the first time that this trick has been used by Uniroyal Chemical (and successors) mouthpieces. Crompton's "Optimization" program was caught by me doing this back in 2004 (possibly well CH 44) and again during the Ammonia Treatment System discussions in 2007 (CH 97). ............................................................................................................ One could almost begin to think that "professional" client driven consultants like to have a few problematic monitoring wells available on site in order to back up some unlikely self-serving conclusions for those clients.

KUDOS TO WOOLWICH OBSERVER FOR THEIR HAWK RIDGE HOMES COVERAGE

Well last week the Observer reported on both my and Ron Koniuch's Sulco/CCC) Delegation to Council in regards to the never ending proposed residential subdivision to be located within breathing, smelling and dying distance of Lanxess Canada. Sulco as well as the former Nutrite (fertilizer) and the former Varnicolor Chemical are also nearby. This week the Observer's Editorial is titled "Council right to have concerns about Elmira subdivision". Of these four companies three of them have a documented history of soil and groundwater contamination caused by their own lack of responsibility. Sulco may have deep soil and groundwater contamination but that is primarily from Uniroyal/Lanxess. ........................................................................................................... Besides the Editorial the Observer also have a wonderful cartoon showing Sandy Shantz and another councillor delivering a Welcome Wagon basket to a future new homeowner in the subdivision. The basket contains noise-cancelling headphones, a nose plug, a Hazmat suit and a First-aid kit. What an appropriate cartoon under the ridiculous circumstances surrounding this subdivision. ..................................................................................................... The Editorial gives a brief environmental history of the area and industrial neighbours and it is not a pretty picture. The Duke St. "rowdies" and their sucessful lawsuit against Uniroyal Chemical is mentioned as well as some details of the toxins handled and mishandled at the Varnicolor Chemical site. Interestingly I believe it possible/likely that the following statement in the Editorial might just have come from something I wrote about Varnicolor decades ago namely "The chemicals there had the potential to cause leukemia, birth defects and internal bleeding, as well as liver, kidney and eye damage." ................................................................................................................... This folks is why local history should never be forgotten. It is relevant to issues today and to the health and safety of residents.

IS DIVERTING CONTAMINATED WATER ONTO YOUR NEIGHBOUR"S PROPERTY (Stroh in particular) CONSIDERED REMEDIATION?

Apparently in Elmira it is. The last couple of days I've been posting here indicating that shallow aquifer flow directions have been misrepresented by Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura and lanxess consultants for more than thirty years now. So too have been surface water flows on and off their site. I have also indicated that groundwater concentrations of contaminants have been low directly beside GP-1 (gravel pit 1) where we have been told in numerous company and consultant reports that the bulk of overflowing waste waters ended up. It's all a charade. .................................................................................................... I have also been reexamining groundwater results from the 1980s and early 90s on the east side of the now Lanxess Canada site. Firstly I will explain what Uniroyal and Conestoga Rovers seemed reluctant to explain to both the public and to UPAC members nearly thirty years ago. East side groundwater results, especially in wells further away from the east side toxic waste pits (RPE 1-5), have ben significantly affected by manmade changes and diversions on the east side. Some of these diversions have been confirmed by Uniroyal/Lanxess whereas others have not. One of the pressing motives for diverting contaminated surface and groundwaters away from flowing westwards into the Canagagigue Creek on site was to reduce the demand for hydraulic containment of the shallow (i.e. upper) aquifer on the east side of the creek. This was in fact sucessful although the company and consultants did not then mention their sucessful diversions. .................................................................................................................... The company has admitted to ploughing furrows on the east side for the express purpose of diverting overflowing wastewaters southwards rather than let them flow westwards into the creek. The company utterly failed to mention either the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) or the groundwater collection system directly beside their eastern boundary with the Stroh farm. This groundwater collection system could be a somewhat conventional agricultural tile drain system although I am doubtful. Lastly and even more controversial is the possibilty of an Interceptor Trench or other subsurface collection system which is possibly diverting and gravity flowing contaminated groundwater eastwards onto the Stroh property where it eventually winds its' way back into the Canagagigue Creek further downstream. .......................................................................................................... The apparent purpose of these manmade constructions would appear to be in order to minimize the extent of Uniroyal Chemical contamination and hence minimize the number of dollars required to properly remediate their pollution. Of course the company, by whatever name, has always failed to honestly and in good faith talk with all the community stakeholders. They have handpicked the ones that are more amenable to their ideas and initiatives. Woolwich Township have cheerfully gone along with that corruption.

UNDERWHELMING GROUNDWATER RESULTS FROM TWO WELLS ON THE EDGE OF GP-1

These two wells are OW 69 and OW 24. More specifically they are OW 69-3 and OW 69-8 screened in the Upper Aquifer (i.e. shallow ) as well as OW 69-13 screened in the Municipal Upper Aquifer. These wells are located immediately on the left (west) side of GP-1 near the north end of that allegedly former gravel pit (i.e. GP-1). OW 24 oddly has three Upper Aquifer wells namely OW 24 S1, S2 and S3 screened at three, five and six metre depths. This well also has OW 24i for intermediate screened in the Municipal Upper Aquifer at approximately the twelve metre depth as well as OW24d (deep) screened in the Municipal Lower Aquifer at the thirty metre depth. Monitoring well OW 24 is also on the immediate left (west) side of GP-1 although further south than OW 69. ............................................................................................................... So how underwhelming are these various groundwater concentrations? Oh and I'm talking about groundwater results in the early 1990s shortly after the guilty parties began seriously building more monitoring wells and regularly sampling them. Therefore these results are prior to the two "consolidation" pits on the east side being excavated (Dec. 1993) as well as before GP-1 was partially excavated in 2013-2014. The groundwater concentrations for NDMA, chlorobenzene, toluene, chlorophenols and a host of other contaminants were often below the laboratory detection limit and when detectable they were very low. Quite frankly this is nonsensical after the claims by Uniroyal, CRA, MOE etc. that the bulk of the overflowing waste waters from east side pits RPE 1-5 ended up in GP-1 and GP-2. If that was true then the chemical contaminants would have been very high in the early 1990s. Yes dioxin/furans and DDT results were "high" however that is subjective in that the health criteria are thousands of times lower for these contaminants, most especially for dioxins/furans. Therefore the concentrations of dioxins/furans were only "high" relative to thier extreme toxicity and hence low criteria. ..................................................................................................... On the other hand the concentrations of numerous of the same contaminants in wells both west and east of pits RPE-4 and RPE-5 in the same time frame were huge. We are talking wells such as OW41, OW42, OW43, OW70, OW5 on the west side of the "consolidation" pits and OW28, OW37-5A and OW8 onthe east side. These concentrations often exceeded 10,000 parts per billion (ppb) and sometimes even exceeded 100,000 ppb. It is becoming clearer all the time that whatever chemical skills Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess have; they are equaled or exceeded by their story telling skills.