ELMIRA, ONTARIO IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE EARTH SLOWLY BECOMING UNLIVEABLE

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following story titled "Societal changes needed to help Earth: UN". The United Nations have released a report titled "Making Peace With Nature". The authors of the UN report are Sir Robert Watson and Rachel Warren. Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, is being kind when he suggests that humanity have been waging a senseless and suicidal war on nature. In fact it's always been about the self-interest of the already wealthy, wanting more. Big Business, developers, manufacturers, banks and financial institutions combined with their lackeys (politicians) have all benefited personally and economically from the status quo and from the growth mantra. More people, larger markets, cheaper labour, replaceable cheaper labour, free waste disposal including toxic waste disposal are all part of the intentional destruction of the earth and its' resources. Strip mining, below water table gravel extraction, more highways, more cars, continued burning of coal, more of everything because those who control our economies profit from every single unnecessary item made and eventually thrown out. ..................................................................................................... Mr. Guterres states that there are three interlinked environmental crises namely climate change, biodeiversity loss and pollution. Climate change of course is resulting in the recent massive winter storm in Texas as well as in extreme weather events around the world, sea level rise, a loss of plants and animals, food and water insecurities and the likelihood of future pandemics. Regarding biodiversity loss, approximately one million of Earth's species of plants and animals are currently facing extinction. Pollution includes 9 million human beings a year dieing from pollution and the poisoning of our air, water and food. Currently up to 400 million tons of heavy metals, toxic sludge and other industrial waste are dumped into the world's waters. Only fifteen percent of Earth's wetlands remain intact which are needed to store water during droughts as well as to help clean the water. Our health systems are overwhelmed with cancers also caused by the poisoned air, water and food. Much of our so called "source water protection" is nothing but window dressing. The same goes for smokestack scrubbers and other end of pipe pollution fixes. A very few worldwide are getting filthy rich literally over the dead bodies of the many. .............................................................................................................. Here in Elmira our authorities at all levels justify a go slow approach. They have permitted seventy years and more of leakage of contaminated groundwater and surface water slowly flushing incredibly toxic chemical compounds downstream from the former Uniroyal Chemical site. The Canagagigue Creek drains south-east into the Grand River which empties into Lake Erie, the St. Lawrence River and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. The soils and land of the former Uniroyal property (Now Lanxess Canada) remain grossly contaminated. PCBs, dioxins/furans, NDMA, DDT, solvents, DNAPLS, pesticides and herbicides (many banned long ago) all continue to slowly be flushed, diluted, evaporated and otherwise slowly mobilized by a multitude of biological, chemical and physical processes. So called "professional" consultants, bought and paid for by the polluter continue to piously lie to the public, public advisory committees and to our municipal, regional, provincial and federal representatives. Those councillors, MECP, MPPs, MPs etc. are mostly clearly aware that they are being lied to and are O.K. with it. It provides them with the plausible deniability that they require in order to be able look their children and grandchildren in the eyes. .................................................................................................................. Here in Elmira (Woolwich Township) we are a part of the problem, not of the solution. And it is killing all of us.