ONTARIO SUNSHINE LIST COMMENTS

Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record carried an Opinion piece by Luisa D"Amato titled "DO not get rid of Sunshine List of high earners in public sector". Luisa suggests that under current (and past) economic conditions (i.e. shrinking), unemployment rising, rising provincial deficit and incredibly ballooning provincial debt "...can the rest of us really support more and more high salaries in the public sector?" The answer clearly is no. Why should the unemployed, the low wage earners and even the average wage earners be subsidizing SIX figure salaries of provincial public servants? ..................................................................................................................... Luisa also asks the following question "Why is there government money for raises for well-paid public sector workers, but not for paid sick days for food service workers, grocery store workers and personal support workers- some of the most heroic, yet most poorly compensated people in society?" That is an excellent question. Let me also add my two cents here: Nurses are well paid and deserve to be so. They work night shifts, holidays including Christmas Day, New Years Day, summer long weekends etc. They work in daily constant danger from viruses, bacteria, mentally unstable patients etc. Their job includes heavy physical lifting and turning of patients. Teachers on the other hand may do some weekend work to catch up on exam marking etc. but they certainly do not work nights or major holidays (Christmas etc.) nor do they work in such hazardous and dangerous conditions. .......................................................................................................... So why do they get so well paid and the other more heroic and essential workers make so little? It's really quite simple. POLITICS! Provincial governments do not want a teachers' strike on their watch. It makes the government of the day look bad. So they buy labour peace using taxpayers' money. Taxpayers including the unemployed, underemployed, low wage workers, essential workers and everybody else with limited power and pull. Teachers hit the financial jackpot once they had an aggressive and hostile union in place to push their demands. Governments, essentially gutless and more worried about optics than educational achievement capitulated to them. Nowadays it's all about sweetheart deals between the two at the expense of both quality education and at the expense of the Ontario taxpayers, the economy and the lower paid in our society.

HAS ANYTHING REALLY CHANGED - WRDSB ???

In my opinion the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) were an inherently corrupt body at the senior leadership level. I'm going back to the mid to late 1990s although it would seem likely that it didn't just happen overnight. I have thankfully not been involved with those manipulative, lying pieces of filth first hand since at least 1999. Their senior staff back then (Stone, Omand, Wideman etc.) sacrificed right and truth, transparency and accountability, parents and children on the alter of money, power, and union sweetheart deals between the employer (WRDSB) and the teachers' unions. Hey it wasn't money out of the Board's pocket that they kept throwing at teachers; that was taxpayers money. .................................................................................................... The biggest and baddest and eventually most public was the Ron Archer scandal. Terms like "passing the trash" became known as the Board's standard operating practice when they had a "bad" teacher. Do not discipline the particular teacher. Do not demote or fire them. That just upsets the cozy relationship with the unions. Nope, just pass them along to the next school in Waterloo Region reinforcing to teachers that they have a form of tenure unheard of anywhere else in Canada. In the case of Ron Archer (convicted pedophile teacher) he was given access to more and more minors with each transfer until finally one of the boys went to the Waterloo Regional Police who stepped up and laid criminal charges. Other ploys by the WRDSB included legal action, threats and banning of parents from school activities when parents with serious and legitimate complaints would not back down or roll over under pressure. Hence my use of the term "filth". They are paid by taxpayers and parents to both protect and educate children first, not to protect their cozy, self-serving relationship with the teachers' unions. .................................................................................................................... Now we come to the present day. Everybody who has been paying attention for the last several years knows that Waterloo Region and the WRDSB have an educational deficit in comparison with the rest of Ontario. For decades Luisa D"Amato has written about various issues, failures, (successes?) etc. in the K-W Record (i.e. Waterloo Region Record). Other reporters have as well including Jeff Outhit. Yesterday's Record was one more example with the title of "Region's high school graduation rates fall further behind". Wow that title has a lot of negative implications to it. Further reading indicates further problems with student achievement locally versus provincially. This achievement or lack thereof is in Math, Reading & Writing. Why do students within the purvue of the WRDSB fare worse than the provincial average? Why has this been occurring for many years? I unlike well paid Board staff and various consultants do not claim to be some kind of educational expert. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree way back in 1974. My "poorest" educated child has a Masters degree in Biology and my "best" educated child has a PHd. in Biology. O.K. so I've only got two kids. The point is I have to ask the question: If a School Board in the past did not remotely have student achievement (& safety at school) as their first priorities, then would it not be likely that student achievement would not be as good as it could be? Secondly if twenty-five years later, student achievement is below par with the rest of the province then is there not still obviously a problem at the top? Is it the same problem or a different problem? Surely the bodies have changed but has the system? Has the culture of power and status been replaced with one promoting educational achievement or hasn't it? And lastly why was the WRDSB ever allowed by the Ontario Ministry of Education to have strayed so badly in the first place? Maybe I know the answer to that last one. Why would I remotely expect professional politicians and their appointees to do the right thing? For politicians it's all about avoiding and covering up problems, not solving them. The way to do that is to have like minded people in charge.

RADIOACTIVE WASTE CONUNDRUM

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following Opinion piece from Thomas Walkom titled "Radioactive waste conundrum bedevils Ontario communities". The nuclear industry in Canada would like to bury 57,000 tonnes of highly radioactive waste in Ontario. Two sites are currently being pursued namely South Bruce near Wingham, Ontario or Ignace in Ontario's north-west corner. The plan is to bury these wastes in deep geological repositories-otherwise known as man-made caves. How deep is deep? What access to it after burial is there and will it remain secure and safe forever? ............................................................................................................ The arguments by the nuclear industrty are that deep geologocal repository is the safest solution. Community members fear that radiocativity will poison the groundwater for thousands of years. If it's never been done before then it's hard to gave substantive evidence either way. Let me just say this. The so called toxic waste landfill at Corunna, Ontario-near Windsor has had it's share of technical problems. Allegedly fourty feet or more of clay was supposed to stop everything forever. It's supposedly been good overall but there have been issues within certain "cells" of the landfill. ......................................................................................................................... There has been no lack of polls by both sides and no lack of money being thrown around the communities by the nuclear industry as they try to buy support. What a way to run a railroad! One last point Waterloo Region. Wingham is just down the road west of where I live in Elmira, Ontario. Why bury anything in heavily populated southern Ontario especially near communities that rely on groundwater?

THE JANUARY 2021 LANXESS PROGRESS REPORT

Oops just a little out of order. Oh well this should be a short report. Well W9 still isn't operating but the deception continues as the report suggests that it was shut down in October 2019. Typical historical revisionism. That well was supposed to be up and running, pumping and treating Elmira Aquifer groundwater years prior to 2019. Now we are waiting for a "piping tree" allegedly for W9. For the love of God just stop the lies and either do your jobs properly or admit that it's all a scam and all for show. ..................................................................................................... The total off-site pumping for January was just slightly above the pumping rates back in November 2012 when Conestoga Rovers and Chemtura admitted that they had to TRIPLE the pumping rates in order to achieve cleanup by 2028. What a farce yet to date no one has PUBLICLY explained/clarified why those tripling of pumping rates are not the Target Rate. Current TAG members have little or no knowledge of what happened in 2012 with barely one or two who should know. ................................................................................................................ Chlorobenzene, ammonia and NDMA concentrations in pumping well W8 (Table A.2) are all through the roof. W8 is located on the east side of Union St. at the north end of the former Nutrite (Yara etc.). This is just a small amount of evidence putting the lie to the MOE/MECP/Uniroyal Chemical etc. claims that DNAPLS never left the Uniroyal property. They sure as hell did and they migrated westwards both onto the Nutrite property as well further south potentially past the Varnicolor property (by the former OW57-32). .......................................................................................................... Fifty-two parts per billion (ppb) of NDMA being found off-site nearly thirty years after the start up of pump and treat on-site and pump and treat off-site (1998-present) is ridiculous! The drinking standard is .009 ppb.

LANXESS CANADA PROGRESS REPORT - FEBRUARY 2021

Progress Report is a misnomer. I prefer Pretend Progress Report. Both on and off-site pumping wells are failing to perform up to the requirements necessary to achieve remediation of the Elmira Aquifers by 2028. This scenario, particularly the off-site pumping failures has been ongoing for decades. Each month we are given a list of "reasons', excuses and various mechanical breakdowns and failures. A skeptic might suggest that the company has a wheel of excuses which they rotate each month to try and provide some variety in those excuses. ................................................................................................................ This month (February) the total off-site pumping rates did not even achieve the old 53 litres per second (Target Rate) way back in 2012. In November of that year. the lying pieces of crap known as Chemtura promised that their off-site pumping rates would be TRIPLED AND they would use a form of source removal in the off-site aquifers known as In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO). Neither has occurred or even come close to occurring. And now Lanxess apparently can't even keep the off-site pumping rates up to the old, discredited Target pumping rates much less the needed higher rates. Put simply, they and the Ontario MOE/MECP (Ministry of Environment) are just going through the motions. ....................................................................................................................... MISA (Municipal Industrial Strategy for Abatement) outlets continue to discharge low levels of solvents and pesticides to the Canagagigue Creek. Trend analysis shows some outlets have some decreases yet many show no trend at all when one might expect after all these decades that infiltrating groundwater into the MISA outlets might have significantly lower concentrations than during the heyday of the company's discharges to ground, ground and surface water. ............................................................................................................................. Interestingly there was no surface water testing done in the creek on the Lanxess site. The excuse was unsafe ice conditions. Oddly I do not recall that excuse ever having been used before. Perhaps it is truthful but when one is dealing with professional liars of long standing, skepticism is to be expected.

THE NEVER ENDING BOYS CLUB: RCMP, CND. MILITARY, MUNICIPAL PUBLIC WORKS?, WRPS ETC., ETC., ETC

It's a boys club and nobody wants to rock the boat. The members' associations/unions are steadfastly under male control. The management and senior administration are primarily male. The few females who sucessfully navigate the favouritism, nepotism, cronyism, are hugely adverse to then undermining their own future prospects by bucking the culture and the trend. From the bottom to the top, males privately will among themselves advise that women are too emotional, too physically weak and too mentally incapable of handling the alleged life and death decisions that they males are (due to their gender) inherently superior at. Just look at the attitudes of both males and females towards blacks in the U.S. from the 1800s to at least the 1970s and later. It's called groupthink and it's an indication in my mind of group stupidity. But it survives and thrives when the people at the top either also believe it or are too morally weak to stand up and push back, hard! Where are the senior women in the Waterloo Region Police Service (WRPS) either resigning in disgust or going public and calling out the WRPS leadership? Recently a senior officer in the Canadian military did exactly that. ................................................................................................................ Here in Waterloo Region the problem starts at the top. That would be our Regional Councillors en masse and especially our so called female leaders who sit quietly at Regional Council and allow the abomination in our police force to continue. Exactly how much more evidence of harassment, inequity and just plain rude and crude behaviour towards female police officers do they need? On Friday March 5/21, Joel Rubinoff of the Waterloo Region Record wrote a story titled "Embattled police whistle-blower fights to have voice heard". The story was about one of the female police officers who had had enough and filed a class action lawsuit against the WRPS, the Police Board and regional council. The Supreme Court of Canada found that allegedly they should have spent more time (decades?) working their issues through with either the male dominated police association/union or they should have gone to the Human Rights Commission. Good God why do you think that they took the slow, laborious, expensive and difficult route through the courts? It's because nothing else that should have helped them, did so. .......................................................................................................................... Female regional councillors, get off your priveleged butts and stand up and publicly embarass and humiliate your male colleagues on council who will not clean up this mess in the WRPS. Chief Larkin is long on talk but apparently can do little or nothing without top political backup. Provincial politicians also have a role but they too do not want to rock the boat. It is true that only a very small percentage of young women are interested in a career in policing. Rest assurred that will continue forever unless or until those at the top make it a priority to treat all police officers with respect, courtesy and honesty. That unfortunately is what many at the top know and are counting on. Why would more women ever want a career in policing the way it and so many other male dominated professions are run? Once again shame on our priveleged municipal, regional and provincial councillors and members of provincial parliament. Their acceptance if not promotion of ignorant, rude, crude and supposedly illegal workplace behaviour shames them all as well as us.

POLICE INVESTIGATING POLICE IS A SELF-SERVING, STUPID IDEA

Maybe when that process was first initiated, police had a monopoly on public trust and confidence. Maybe Canadian citizens were much more naive at the time. Certainly American citizens, most certainly black American citizens have known for a very long time that police who were mostly white males (especially sixty years ago) often were blatantly racist and made huge errors of judgement for which they were not held accountable. I expect that any such system of having other police investigate allegations of wrongdoing against police officers was held in utter disbelief and contempt. It amazes me that to this day that that system still is in effect in Canada. Do our politicians and senior police brass actually think that the conclusions reached by that system have any credibility? The real stupidity is that it is likely that there are numerous cases where an officer's actions were not inappropriate much less illegal. That officer will not enjoy public vindication however when the investigator is viewed as a "friend" by the public. ......................................................................................................... Luisa D'Amato wrote an Opinion piece several weeks ago titled "The police should not be investigating one another". She was commenting on the violent takedown of Abdisalam Omer after he had stopped at a gas station in Kitchener. Luisa suggests that it was a miracle that no one was killed that night. Based upon the facts as we know them, I would agree. Here again is the problem. The violent takedown involving multiple police officers was recorded on cameras and videos. The police were not gentle. That said if even half of Omer's behaviour was accurately portrayed then I am pleasantly amazed that he survived that night. Omer was sufferring from a mental health crisis and his behaviour with police officers reflected that. If indeed police seriously believed that the fireworks they heard were gunshots and that Omer was armed, then he is lucky to have survived. Once again there was an investigation by an outside police force who fully exonerated the Waterloo Region Police Service. Not good enough. The system as I've written here before is broken. This archaic and ridiculous nonsense of having police investigate each other does two things. When the blue wall goes up it protects bad cops to the disadvantage of everyone including the good cops. When an honest and forthright investigation and appropriate conclusions are reached, many seriously dismiss it as biased. There are no winners only losers with this process.

SELF-SERVING LOBBY GROUP CONTINUES IT'S HARASSMENT OF RURAL RESIDENTS & DESTRUCTION OF OUR JOINT NATURAL RESOURCES

Yes I am talking about gravel pits. Thnk about it. How is it that new pits open every year? Applications for zone changes to Township municipal governments never seem to end and I'm talking about Woolwich Township primarily although certainly Wilmot and North Dumfries have their share. At the moment there is a battle near Maryhill (Woolwich) over a proposed pit that is opposed by local neighbours who call themselves the Hopewell Creek Ratepayers Association. There is also a proposed gravel pit in Wilmot that was discussed in a Waterloo Region Record article on March 13/21 titled "Concern heating up over proposed gravel pit". This gravel pit is being referred to as the Hallman Pit. The location is next to Shingletown which is less than ten kilometres west of Kitchener. .................................................................................................................... In a nutshell the provincial Aggregate Resources Act has been called a cudgel by opponents to the proliferation of never ending and unnecessary gravel pits throughout Waterloo Region. At the municipal level, the Planning Act allows municipalities to make amendments to their Official Plans (OP) including zone changes, below groundwater level pits and or expanding the aggregate extraction area outside the already designated area. ................................................................................................................. Part of the proposed Hallman Pit is in a groundwater recharge area. It is also within one kilometre of two municipal wells that contribute to the Region of waterloo drinking water supply. These two wells are named K50 and K51 and are described here in last Thursday's (March 18/21) posting. These wells can not only contribute water to the Mannheim Treatment Plant (Kitchener) but also can supplement water in New Hamburg and Baden which is crucual as they had wells shut down for a large portion of 2020 (see March 18/21). ........................................................................................................... Unfortunately I expect that we will once more see that regional "protections" of our groundwater and drinking water are subjective and illusory. Afterall the aggregate (gravel) industry are donors to our major provincial political parties and they aren't giving them money for nothing in return.

WATERLOO REGION RECORD ALSO CALLS OUT OUR LOCAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

In Saturday's paper, the Record published their Editorial titled "Hefty fine victimizes victim of sex assault". The Record referred to the victim/complainant's behaviour as a technical breach of the law. They also stated "Not only was she unaware she was breaking the law, her violation was limited rather than egregious." Finally the Record stated "A more appropriate -and more just-response would have been to give the woman a suspended sentence. Or a symbolic fine of $1.". ............................................................................................................. It is my opinion that our judicial system has long needed to be given more attention by the media. This latest outrage is possibly the tip of the iceburg. How many citizens are convicted of crimes on the flimsiest of evidence? How many are convicted because they do not present themselves well either to a judge or a jury? How many are convicted of serious crimes when they are sufferring mental distress and simply can not handle the stress and rigors of a courtroom? How many do not have the money to hire a proper lawyer and go into court with at best advice from an overworked Duty Counsel? ....................................................................................................................... I have read about too many cases where the criteria of "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" becomes a farce. If the accused is not a sympathetic figure for any of a dozen reasons then the criteria appears to become well why didn't you behave this way? Why didn't you express more emotion/tears etc. when you heard the bad news? Why did you not phone 911 first instead of your wife ? was the question asked in a local court recently. These questions or their answers are not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. At best they might provide weak evidence with the lower criteria of "on the balance of probabilities". Circumstantial evidence is not strong evidence. ............................................................................................................. Behind all this may also be a mindest from either judges or even juries that they do not make mistakes. Give me a break. Both Canada and the United States (& maybe the rest of the world) have been exposed again and again for egregiously locking citizens up for years and decades via wrongful convictions. If our system is so bad that they get it wrong repeatedly with serious crimes such as rape and murder then why do we think they also don't screw up theft, simple assault, fraud etc. Our judicial systems are filled with fallible human beings who unfortunately sometimes pretend that they are infallible. They also use the resources of the state to convict citizens without any such resources to defend themselves. The system needs reform.

OUR "JUST US" (JUSTICE) SYSTEM SCREWS UP AGAIN

Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record carries an Opinion piece by Luisa D'Amato titled "The law was twisted and turned around and ended up harming a survivor". Generally over the years (decades) I have tended to agree with at least 90% of Luisa's positions on various issues that she writes about. This one is no exception. A woman went to the police over an alleged sexual assault. The "assailant" was charged and convicted in a court of law in Kitchener. I do not know what sentence he was given by the judge although I would assume it included some significant jail time. The victim of the crime shared part of the court transcript with her family and friends. The part she shared included the reasons why the judge found the man guilty. Lo and behold the now convicted assailant called the police on her for violating the routine publication ban on identifying the victim of a sexual assault. Honest to God she was charged and convicted for identifying herself as the victime of a sexual assault. She was fined $2,000 plus a "victim surcharge" of $600. Has the world gone mad? ................................................................................................................. On the face of it, our judicial system have not just revictimized the woman involved but they have also shot themselves in the foot. That an innocent victim of a physical attack then should endure more court time with herself as the accused and indeed be convicted and fined a total of $2,600 is outrageous. Are our courts so full of themselves that they think that they must "defend" either stupid laws, lest we forget made by even stupider individuals known as politicians, or that they must "defend" their own inherent superiority and divinity from any minor transgression? This at best was a minor transgression or even a simple misunderstanding. Who among us thinks that the victim of a crime does not have the right to identify themselves if they so wish? I do believe that many of our judges and judicial personnel consider themselves above the rest of us, almost pope-like in their infallibility and that they must at all costs protect that idiotic notion. There are costs to that kind of stupidity but unfortunately they are usually borne by others. .............................................................................................................. Is there something else going on? Are there facts brought up in court that have not been shared with the public? Without diminishing my disgust with the facts as we know them, I am going to speculate here. I am in fact going to go out on a limb and ask if it is possible that the courts actually screwed up twice? I do not know anything about the judge in this case. I do however know too much about a certain a..hole judge in Kitchener by the name of Robert Reilly. He is beyond the pale regarding bias and disrespectful behaviour. He is a coward hiding behind his judicial robes while imposing his perverted and ignorant opinions on others. Besides my case of decades ago I have been advised of his pro female bias in another case for which he was reprimanded (knuckles wrapped only). With this background I am compelled to ask if the initial conviction of sexual assault was the correct decision or not. If our courts are still capable of such stupidity in revictimizing a complainant after her allegation was upheld, is it possible that said conviction was a weak one? If our courts and judicial system permit such a..holes as I've mentioned to keep on victimizing citizens then why on earth do we assume that they always make the right decisions or that one bad apple (known by victimized citizens and probably some lawyers) is the only one? I repeat that I have no special or private knowledge of the particular case that Luisa D'Amato is writing about. I am simply speculating as to whether the judiciary involved actually have messed up this case even more than is already obvious.

THE NORTH DUMFRIES WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

The North Dumfries System consists of four Water Systems namely the Ayr Water Supply System, the Branchton System, the Lloyd Brown Distribution System and the Roseville Water System. The Ayr System consists of three wells A1, A2, and A3. In 2020, the Northumberland watermain was replaced at a cost of $820,000. None of the three wells were shut down during 2020 and bacteria results in the raw water were very low as was Turbidity and chlorine levels in the treated water were normal. Wow am I ever noticing how much lower Sodium levels are outside the three cities of Kitchenr, Waterloo and Cambridge. These wells in Ayr are so low that Sodium is actually below the Guideline of 20 mg/l. Nitrates are acceptable and Nitrites are very low which is excellent. Solvents and herbicides have the usual high Method Detection Limits (MDL) for too many compounds and the results are from 2019 testing. Glyphosate's MDL is through the roof at 25 ppb. Both Haloacetic Acids (HAA) and Trihalomethanes (THM) have acceptable results and more importantly they are published here in this report. ................................................................................................................... The Branchton Meadows Water System at the extreme south end of Cambridge consists of wells BM2 and BM3. A "controller" was replaced cosying $38,000 in 2020. Whether that caused the two week shutdown of well BM3 in 2020 we are not advised. Turbidity and chlorine levels are both acceptable. Sodium levels are not although they are much worse throughout the three major cities in the Region. Nitrates and Nitrites are very low. Solvents and herbicide MDLs are far too high in about eight instances. Nine when you include Glyphosate (active ingredient in Roundup herbicide) at 25 ppb. The testing dates for solvents and herbicides was 2019. HAAs and THM results are published here and they are both present although below the provincial criteria. ................................................................................................................ The Lloyd Brown Distribution System is supplied via a connection to the Cambridge disribution system. Hence the water for this subdivision is typical of that throughout the City of Cambridge as described here earlier. There are provisions for automatically topping up chlorine levels in case the incoming water from Cambridge is low. This may explain the "*Short term spike" of 4.99 mg/l which is far too high. There are no results here for solvents and herbicides as the water is supplied by the Cambridge Distribution System. HAA and THM results are provided and HAAs are very low whereas THMs are not although only one of the four samples is much too high although still below the very high criteria of 100 parts per billion (ppb.). ............................................................................................................ The Roseville Water System consists of wells R5 and R6. There is no clarification as to whether there used to be wells named R1-4. Interestingly despite all raw water samples taken having no E.Coli or Total Coliforms present, nevertheless there were four adverse incidents involving Total Coliforms being present in the water. Corrective actions included resampling; resampling, disinfection restored, mains flushed; and resampling, mains flushed. These incidents took place in July (2x) and August (2x). Turbidity and chlorine levels were normal. I believe that we have a new winner with Sodium being at only 9.24 mg/l. The Guideline is 20 mg/l and the three cities are generally much, much higher than the Guideline. Nitrates and Nitrites are very low. Solvent and herbicide MDLs are still too high in numerous instances and the results are from 2019. Glyphosate's (Roundup) MDL at 25 ppb. is disgraceful. HAA and THM results are published here and while present are well below the criteria. ....................................................................................................... So we have lots of various toxins present including by-products of disinfection (HAA, THM, chloramines, chlorine) throughout Waterloo Region. Low level solvents whether TCE or numerous others should not be acceptable at any measurable concentrations (with very low MDLs) in our drinking water. Sodium levels throughout the tri-cities are at dangerous levels for some/many of our citizens. Lead levels are under reported and asbestos levels which likely/hopefully are not throughout Waterloo Region, certainly exist in some communities such as Elmira and possibly in older subdivisions in K-W and Cambridge. Asbestos levels are not reported anywhere. NDMA results were published in all of two reports only throughout the Region. Far too many known industrial solvents, chemicals and pharmeceuticals simply are ignored in these reports. These Region of Waterloo Annual Reports, in my opinion are primarily a public relations tool for our local politicians to pretend that our water is safe and healthy. Somewhere down the line they will suddenly advise that a pipeline to the Great Lakes (Lake Erie?) is required because our groundwater is pooched from numerous different sources.

FOUR MORE WILMOT WELL SUPPLY SYSTEMS

The Foxboro Water Supply System consists of three wells named FG1, FG2A and FG4. Again it would be nice to know what happened to FG2, and FG3 presuming they existed at one time. I believe that these wells are located just west of Kitchener within Wilmot Township. While the raw water is clear of E.Coli bacteria there are low numbers of Total Coliforms in the raw water. Although there were no repairs or equipment replacements, wells FG2A and FG4 were offline for two weeks in 2020. I expect that that short time duration may have been for routine maintenanace and or cleaning although again no clarification is provided. Turbidity and chlorine levels are well within the normal ranges. Sodium levels are low as are both Nitrate and Nitrite levels. Solvent and herbicide results are blessed/tainted with high Method Detection Limits (MDL) like so many other Region of Waterloo wells. These results by the way are all from 2018 which is disappointing. Glyphosate MDLs are also at 25 parts per billion (ppb.). No results for HAAs or THMs are given. ..................................................................................................................... The New Dundee Water System consists of wells ND4 and ND5. No mention of any ND1-3. The raw water had zero E.Coli present and one Total Coliform only. Turbidity and chlorine levels are normal and Sodium is very low, even slightly lower than the previous Foxboro System. Nitrates unfortunately are much higher although below the provincial criteria. Solvent and herbicide results are from 2018 testing and are plagued with far too many MDLs greater than 1 ppb. with Glyphosate's MDL being an extraordinary 25 ppb. Haloacetic Acids (HAA) and Trihalomethanes (THM) results unfortunately are not given in this report. ....................................................................................................................... The New Hamburg /Baden Water System consists of wells NH3 and NH4. (NH1 & 2???). Now this absolutely is not good news. There were no repairs or equipment replacement in 2020 yet well NH3 was offline for 33 weeks and NH4 for 18 weeks. Why the hell were these wells offline for so long in growing communities? No explanation/clarification is given! This is NOT good water reporting! E.Coli detections in the raw water were zero although there were 6 Total Coliform detections out of 54 samples taken. Normal chlorine treatment did its job in disinfecting the raw water of low levels of bacteria. Turbidity and chlorine levels were normal. Sodium levels are extremely low, probably the lowest of anywhere in the Region of Waterloo. Nitrates and Nitrite levels are both very low. Solvents and herbicides suffer from the same high MDLs as other wells in the Region including a MDL of 25 ppb. for Glyphosate (Roundup). HAAs and THM results are not provided in this report. The test results are from 2018 versus from last year (2020). .................................................................................................................... The Shingletown Well System consists of wells K50 and K51. Each has their own separate report. The water from both these wells can be directed towards different towns and areas including New Hamburg/Baden, Mannheim and the Mannheim Reservoir and Kitchener Distribution System. This explains how the New Hamburg/Baden System survived the shutdown of their two wells for so many weeks last year. Well K50 had excellent low (Absent) bacteria results last year and it's Turbidity was low although chlorine levels were occasionally on the high side which seems odd under the circumstances. Sodium levels are very low relative to the rest of the Region of Waterloo whereas Nitrate levels are on the high side relatively although below the criteria. Nitrites are excellent. Solvents and herbicides share the high MDLs common throughout the Region including Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) at 25 ppb. HAAs and THM results were not given. Solvent and herbicide results are all from 2018. .................................................................................................................... Well K51 from the Shingletown System also had excellent (zero) bacteria results with low Turbidity (murkiness) although occasionally high chlorine levels. Odd again. Sodium levels are very low as is Nitrate levels with Nitrite levels a little higher. Hmm do we have a typo here in the report? Most of these reports have Nitrates listed first and Nitrites second. This report is just the opposite. So which one of the two is actually the higher result???? Solvent and herbicide results are equally as bad as all the others in the Region due to high Method Detection Limits (MDL) with Glyphosate (Roundup) being the worst of the worst at a MDL of 25 ppb.The test results are also from 2018 which makes timely supervision of water changes impossible. HAAs and THM results are also not included here.

WILMOT TOWNSHIP WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

The Wilmot System consists of four Mannheim village wells (K22A, K23., K24, K26) as well as four other complete water systems known as the Foxboro, New Dundee, New Hamburg/Baden and Shingletown Water Supply Systems. The four Mannheim village wells were briefly mentioned here when I was describing the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant during the description of the Kitchener Water Supply System as these four wells can indirectly (along with the two Shigletown Wells) supply the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant. ............................................................................................................ Well first off well K22A received zero repairs or replacements of equipment during 2020 yet it was offline for all of last year. No clarification whatsoever has been provided. More suspiciously the most recent sampling/testing dates are 2009! This does not look good. ....................................................................................................................... Well K23 underwent $84,000 worth of repairs in 2020 which apparently did not cause any shutdown during 2020. Bacteria levels and Turbidity were both quite low in the raw water although chlorine levels in treated water ranged from low to high. Sodium levels were found to be 40.2 mg/l double the guideline yet still low in comparison to many other wells in Waterloo Region. Nitrate levels were high albeit below the criteria. Solvent and herbicide labratory Method Detection Limits (MDL) were high with nine parameters being greater than 1 part per billion (ppb.). Glyphosate, similar to other wells in the Region, had a MDL of 25 ppb. No results were given in this report for either Haloacetic Acids (HAA) or Trihalomethanes (THM), both potentially toxic by-products of the disinfection process (i.e. killing bacteria). ........................................................................................................... Well K24 had over $250,000 worth of equipment replacement which likely was the cause of well K24 being offline for 16 weeks in 2020. This was not so specifically advised in the report. Bacteria, Turbidity and chlorine levels were all good. Sodium was low in comparison to other wells but still double the guideline. Nitrates were high although lower than the criteria. All solvent and herbicide concentrations were taken in 2018 which while perhaps legal, I find unacceptable. Also as usual many of the labratory Method Detection Limits (MDL) exceeded 1 ppb. which is unacceptable as well. Glyphosate (Roundup) MDL was as ridiculously high ( 25 ppb.) as always. HAA and THM results were not given in this report as I believe they should be especially as after their name in the Table it says "show latest annual average", yet they don't. ..................................................................................................................... Well K26 ran for the entire year and had no repairs or equipment replacement. Bacteria levels were very good as was Turbidity in the raw water very low along with chlorine levels in the treated water. Nitrates were among the highest I have seen in the Region although still below the criteria. Solvent and herbicide results are all from 2018 and have far too many high MDLs. Glyphosate is still a ridiclous 25 ppb. MDL. HAA and THM results are not given in this report. .................................................................................................................. It is my opinion that most of the legitimate concerns about the quality of our drinking water in Waterloo Region are the results of errors of omission. Whether no explanations for missing or shut down wells to high MDLs for solvents and herbicides, old testing results (2009, 2018 etc.), failure to include HAA and THM results, failure to include chemicals such as NDMA and so many other ubiquitous industrial chemicals and solvents; it all adds up to glaring omissions of significant and relevant information from which citizens can determine the quality of their water. I belive that these omissions are intentional for exactly that reason.

WELLESLEY (TWN.) WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

This system consists of the wells for the folllowing towns namely Heidelberg, Linwood, St. Clements and Wellesley. In order, Heidelberg consists of two wells, HD1 and HD2. The raw water had a low number of Total Coliform bacteria. Turbidity (murkiness) in the raw water was low and chlorine levels in the treated water were appropriate. Sodium levels are the lowest I've seen to date although it is a 2018 result. Nitrates and Nitrites are also very low although again they were tested in 2020 (appropriate) and 2019 (less so). Both Haloacetic Acids (HAA) and Trihalomethanes (THM) have resulteds published which is wonderful for a change. Those results are all below the criteria. Solvents and herbicides have nine instances whereby the Method Detection Limits (MDL) exceed 1 part per billion (ppb) which is too high. Glyphosate (Roundup) still has a MDL of 25 ppb. which is incredibly and ridiculously high most likely hiding a positive detection of this herbicide in our drinking water. ......................................................................................................... The Linwood System consists of wells L1A and L2. Bacteria levels are very low although there was one adverse incident on September 11, 2020 when Total Coliforms were present in the water. The water was resampled and the Coliforms were then not present. Both Turbidity and chlorine levels are appropriate as is Sodium which is very low. Nitrate and Nitrite levels are also very low. Both HAA and THM concentrations are higher than most regional water systems although they are below the provincial criteria. While I am glad to see the results here I wish that they were significantly lower than they are. Solvents and herbicides have the usual very high MDLs above 1 ppb. and with Glyphosate having a MDL of 25 ppb. ...................................................................................................................... The St. Clements system consists of wells SC2, SC3 and SC4. Bacteria levels are excellent and Turbidity and chlorine levels are quite good. Nitrite levels are very low whereas Nitrates seem to be up and down although consistently higher in well SC3. None exceed the criteria although I believe that I have made my concerns clear about multiple low level detections of different chemicals in a water supply potentially being unhealthy despite each individual chemical being below it's own criteria. Solvents and herbicides also share the problem of high MDLs in these wells with Glyphosate again having the ridiculously high MDL of 25 ppb. Those results are all from 2019. HAAs and THM results are published here and they are significantly better (i.e. lower) than the Linwood System wells. .......................................................................................................................... The town of Wellesley system consists of wells WY1, WY5, and WY6. No mention of what may have happened to WY2, 3 or 4 presuming they once existed. Raw water bacteria levels were all absent although there were two adverse incidents regarding Total Coliforms namely on July 22/20 and August 6/20. The system was resampled only and the Coliforms presumably were gone. For some unstated reason well WY1 was offline for four weeks in 2020. There is no mention of repairs or new equipment being installed nor any other explanation given for this shutdown. I find that inappropriate. Turbidity (raw water) and chlorine (treated water) levels appear fine. Sodium levels tested in 2018 and Nitrates and Nitrites tested in 2020 are all excellent. Solvents and herbicides tested in 2019 share the serious problem of high MDLs (> 1ppb.) with again Glyphostae having a MDL of 25 ppb. HAAs and THMs certainly were both detected and reported here in this report. Both have levels well below criteria however I still wish they were at lower concentrations.

MORE KITCHENER WELLS

The Parkway System is located near Fairway Rd. and Manitoy Dr. and consists of wells K31, K32 and K33. Bacteria levels in the raw water are very low, as are Turbidity and chlorine levels in the treated water which is normal. Sodium levels are extremely high (12 x guideline) and Nitrate levels are higher than most although below the provincial guideline. Solvents and herbicides share the problems with other wells in that nine of them have Method Detection Limits (MDLs) higher than 1 part per billion (ppb). Glyphosate (Roundup), similar to other wells has a MDL of 25 ppb. Trichloroethylene (TCE) a very toxic solvent has been present in low levels in this well for decades likely courtesy of the former Deilcraft (Electrohome) factory nearby. Chloramines are consistently present in the treated water at greater than half the Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS). With the very low bacteria levelsw in the raw water I find this surprising and wonder if it is to cover up the taste/smell of solvents in the water. ................................................................................................................. The Strange St. Well Supply System was all originally located on Strange St. not too far from the former Uniroyal Chemical tire plant. That was always a bad idea. I believe many years ago two additional wells were added, further away from the Uniroyal location. Currently this System consists of wells K10A, K11A, K13, K18 and K19. Well, well, well! This entire Well System was offline for 2020! That does not surprise me in the least. There is of course absolutely no explanation in this report as to why all five wells were shut down throughout 2020. Interestingly all test results are from 2018 and they share the same deficiencies as all the other test results for solvents and herbicides. Also keep in mind that rubber factories (tires etc.) use a myriad of chemical additives and other exotic chemicals in their production. I expect that too many unusual chemicals are in the nearby groundwater and combined with all the publicity around rubber workers horrible health issues caused by on the job chemicals, the Region are attempting to dodger a bullet here. Of course the utter failure to explain well removals and disappearances in these Annual Reports gives the knowledgable reader great concern that the Region are intentionally covering up problem wells. ...................................................................................................... As mentioned here a few days ago, the Woolner Well Supply is a bust. Now at least they do advise us that the well houses and treatment plant buildings were decommissioned and the connection to the Kitchener Distribution System removed. This also is not a surprise as they have not sampled and published the water results since 2010! Basically this system is located along the Grand River downstream of Breslau and particularly Safety-Kleen. The closer to the oil recycling operation, K70 and K71 wells have been shut down for many years. I have old technical reports showing the groundwater contaminated between the plant and the Grand River contaminated with solvents and chemicals galore. The further downstream Woolner System had phenols present along with odour and tatse problems for years. Once again the Region of Waterloo are happy for their citizens to foot the water treatment costs right up to the time of decommissioning but not so happy to honestly share the specific reasons, causes and sources of contamination to the raw water. Shame on them!

THE MANNHEIM WATER TREATMENT PLANT (KITCHENER)

The raw water for this treatment plant comes from the Grand River. It is heavily treated and then can be mixed with water from the Mannheim Aquifer Storage and Recovery Facilities (i.e. ASR1, ASR2, ASR3, ASR4, RCW1 and RCW2). As the name implies the water has been pumped into the ground and stored in an aquifer for later extraction and use. All of this water can be blended with seven groundwater wells named K91, K92, K93, K94, K21, K25, K29. Finally the Mannheim village wells (K22A, K23, K24 K26) and the nearby Shingltown wells K50 and K51 also can indirectly supply the Mannheim Pumping Station Reservoir. There were treatment upgrades including repairs and replacements of equipment to the system totalling $1,800,000 in 2020. The raw water from groundwater wells was very clear of bacteria. The Grand River water however was not with loads of E.Coli and Total Coliforms. Funny thing that. It's not just fish using the water as a bathroom it's human beings with all their Sewage Treatment Plants along the river. Turbidity especially of river water was through the roof. Surprisingly low chlorine levels were telling me that there are better ways to disinfect water other than using massive doses of toxic chlorine. ............................................................................................................. There is lots of testing for Bromides, Bromates and chloramines with no mention made of the criteria for them in this report. From past knowledge I can advise however that chloramines occasionally exceed half the provincial criteria. Sodium levels are very low (relatively) likely due to the volumes of river water with less direct industrial discharge into it these days. Of course roads (salt) near rivers can be a problem. Nitrates are high and again without a criteria being included I have to go on memory. They too occasionally are exceeding half the criteria that I recall. Solvents and herbicides are plagued with the same high Method Detection Limits (MDL) for nine parameters. Glyphosate (Roundup) is also at a ridiculous MDL of 25 parts per billion (ppb). Happily we actually have results published for both Haloacetic Acids and Trihalomethanes but alas without their criteria being presented. I am confident from memory that the criteria for THMs is 100 ppb. and the results are well below that. HAA criteria I am not sure of although they are below it according to their claims of NO Exceedance. Chloramine results are listed both on page 4 and on page 10. Both Tables are disturbing as so many results exceed half the prescribed standard of 3 mg/l. ....................................................................................................... All in all I can appreciate both the effort and cost going into treating the water especially coming from the Grand River. The problem is that all our politicians, past and present, cheerfully looked the other way when local industry were dumping their toxic wastes into both rivers and the ground. The river pollution is now mostly sitting in either Lake Erie or Ontario with some likely making it to the Atlantic Ocean. The ground pollution, especially DNAPLS (dense non-aqueous phase liquids) are still there and will continue to contribute solvents and more to our groundwater for many more decades. Surface water from rivers and lakes is very expensive to treat however we allowed local industry to pollute our groundwater and are paying for that likely with our health despite all denials and refusals to acknowledge that science as yet can not determine health criteria for several toxins (low level or otherwise) simultaneously in our drinking water.

TIME TO LOOK AT THE KITCHENER WELLS

There are a total of five different Well Supply Systems plus the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant. These include the Greenbrook, K34 System, Parkway, Strange St., and Woolner's Well Supply. That said, that last one (Woolner's) is likely to turn out to be a bust as it's been a bust for decades. It's located just downstream from the former K70 & K71 wells, along the Grand River and downstream from the former Breslube (now safety-Kleen) in Breslau. My recollection from years past is that there are odour and taste problems not to mention phenols in the water. ........................................................................................................ The Greenbrook System is located by Homer Watson Blvd. and Stirling Ave. It consists of wells K1A, K2A, K4B, K5A and K8. Hmm wonder what happened to wells K1, K2, K3, K6 & 7? Nice if we were told about them but we aren't in this report at least. Total chlorine exceeded its' criteria by a large margin on March 14, 2020 and was resampled along with the mains being flushed. There was no work done on these wells however well K1A was offline for one week and well K2A offline for five weeks last year. No explanation given.Turbidity levels are a little on the high side although generally chlorine levels look good. This makes sense as the bacteria levels in the raw water are good (i.e. low). Sodium levels all well above the guideline of 20 mg/l and Nitrates are on the high side albeit below the criteria of 10 mg/l. Solvents and herbicides have Method Detection Limits (MDL) on nine parameters greater than 1 part per billion (ppb) which is too high and can thus hide positive detections. Glyphosate in these wells is also at a MDL of 25 ppb. Haloacetic Acids (HAA) and Trihalomethanes (THM) results are both by-products of disinfection and can be toxic. Their results should be in this report and are not. Chloramines also a result of disinfection of water, exceed half the prescribed standard in the Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS). ....................................................................................................... The K34 well supply consists of wells K34 and K36. There was almost $600,000 in upgrades last year including Actuator replacements, whatever those are and Filter Upgrades which were 2/3 of the total expenses. Wow must be some kind of serious filters there.Both wells were offline for five weeks in 2020 and hence so was the whole system. Turbidity (murkiness) of the raw water was very low, bacteria was low and chlorine levels were low which is appropriate considering the first two parameters being low. Sodium concentrations while above the guidelines, actually in comparison to most wells was very good. Solvents, herbicides, HAA, THMs all share the same sampling/testing/ publication problems consistently in these Region of Waterloo Annual Reports. Chloramines exceeded half the prescribed standard (ODWS) on at least ten occasions in 2020. Combined with the regularly high MDLs there could be health problems in this water supply that the Region are hiding. ......................................................................................................... I will likely look at the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant tomorrow as it is ten pages, multiple different water sources, massive amounts of tax payer funded upgrades, lots of by-products of disinfection, high Nitrate values and low Sodium values.

WE HAVE THREE CAMBRIDGE WELLFIELDS LEFT

Those would be Pinebush, Shades Mill and the Turnbull Well System. The Pinebush System consists of wells P10, P11 and P17. Only two wells run at the same time and it's usually P10 in conjunction with one of the others. They are located on the east side of Cambridge, just east of the former Ciba-Geigy. Bacteria levels in the raw water are very low, Turbidity is O.K., as is Chlorine levels in the treated water. Wells P10 and P11 were offline for six weeks in 2020 and well P17 was offline for the whole year hence the entire system was down for six weeks. Normally that is a very bad sign however in this case there were raw and treated water reservoir upgrades to the tune of $112,300. No reason is given for P17 being shut down for the entire year which is very concerning. Sodium levels while above the guideline still are among the lowest in Cambridge. Nitrates and Nitrites are also both at very low levels. Solvents and herbicides share the same problems with so many other wells which is far too many (9) of them having Method detection Limits greater than 1 part per billion (ppb). Glyphosate (Roundup) is also far too high with a MDL of 25 ppb. Haloacetic Acids (HAA) and Trihalomethanes (THM) unfortunately also have no results posted in this report. .................................................................................................................. The Shades Mill System is located both near the Shades Mill Conservation Area as well as just west of the former Cambridge Landfill. It consists of wells G7, G8, G38, G39 and G40. This System underwent extensive in 2020 including reservoirs, Holding Tanks and Connection of well G40 to the system. Hmm interesting. In total approximately $300,000 was spent on these upgrades. At least partly as a result the entire system was down for thirteen weeks with well G40 offline for nineteen weeks and all the other wells offline for thirteen weeks. Coliforms were detected in the raw water on eight sampling occasions. Raw water Turbidity (murkiness) was very high in these wells although chlorine levels were not elevated. Sodium, nitrates and nitrite levels were all low although solvents and herbicide testing remains inadequate with eight MDLs greater than 1 ppb. The MDL for Glyphosate remains at a ridiculous 25 ppb. The results for HAAs and THMs also are not included in this report. AND....NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) results (< 0.0009 ppb) are included for this wellfield. Is this possibly due to the proximity to the Landfill? .............................................................................................. Lastly we have the Turnbull System. It consists of wells G16, G17 and G18 and is located on the east side of Cambridge between the Shades Mill and Pinebush Systems. There were approximately $170,000 in upgrades last year including reservoir upgrades and the rehabillatation of well G17. Hence G16 was offline for sixteen weeks, G17 for nineteen weeks and G18 for sixteen weeks. The whole system was offline for thirteen weeks. Wow it's no wonder Waterloo Region are having quantity problems with their water system. Sodium levels are the lowest I've seen it to date and nitrites and nitrates are also very low. Solvents and herbicides share the same problems with the other well systems in that far too many have MDLs that are too high and thus could be hiding the presence of industrial solvents (& herbicides) in our drinking water. Also no results are published here for HAAs and THMs.

THREE PRESTON (CAMBRIDGE) WELLS

The three wells are P9, P15 and P16. P9 is located just north of the former Ciba-Geigy plant. Bacteria are very low as is Turbidity (murkiness of the raw water). Chlorine levels however have a maximum value of 2.97 mg/l which is just shy of the statutory maximum of 3 mg/l. Sodium levels are also well above the reccommended 20 mg/l level. Nitrates and nitrites are both low which is a good thing. Solvents and herbicides may be a problem with NINE Method Detection Limits (MDL) exceeding 1 part per billion (ppb) plus Glyphosate at a MDL of 25 ppb. Both HAAs and THMs are listed with the "(Note: show latest average)" included and then zero results following. Unimpressive. ...................................................................................................... Now here's where it gets interesting. Years ago the Region were doing multiple repeat samplings per year for TCE at I belive well P6 (near Northstar Aerospace) prior to that well being shut down. This made sense based upon the environmental history of that company. Well guess what. It appears to be out of the blue but the Region have tested for and published a non-detect result for NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) in well P9. Also their MDL is an outstanding .0009 ppb. You can see why I complain about MDLs greater than 1 ppb. I believe this sampling makes sense with known former polluter (early 90s) Ciba-Geigy close by. ............................................................................................................................ Well P15 is located in the north-west end of Cambridge (Preston). While bacteria levels seem low oddly there was a Notice submitted regarding CT which I believe stands for Contact Time. It is measured in parts per million (chlorine) per minute and was at 2.47 mg/l*min. Supposedly this reading was low which surprises me. Regardless when we check out chlorine levels after disinfection they range from too low .48 mg/l to a much too high 4.99 mg/l. Perhaps the too high number was a response to the initial too low number?? Eveything else looks normal, unfortunately including the too high MDLs for 8 solvents and herbicides. ...................................................................................................... Well P16 was shut down for all of 2020. In fact as I recall it's been shut down for many years. In fact the "latest" sampling and testing data is from 2003! Now here's where it gets even weirder. There are NINETEEN MDLs greater than 1 ppb with many at the 5-10 ppb. concentration. What the hell! It seems clear to me that this well is contaminated with solvents and herbicides but for some reason (emergency use?) the Region don't want to decommission it. This is scary. Oh and one more scary fact. Glyphosate in 2003 had a MDL of 10 ppb versus the current 25 ppb MDL at all wells. This suggests to me that Glyphosate (Roundup) levels continue to rise in our treated groundwater. This is very wrong especially with U.S. legal action being taken against Glyphosate for potential/likely cancer effects.

LAST GALT WELL & THREE HESPELER WELLS

G9 is located near the southern end of Cambridge close to Allen-Bradley as well as Long Mfg. I do not know if those two companies are still operating but my memory tells me that they have left behind a legacy (not a good one) for decades. While overall the water from this well is typical with high sodium and iffy but below criteria Nitrate levels it's unusual problem is Trichloroethylene (TCE). TCE is both a DNAPL (dense non-aqueous phase liquid) and a former common solvent and degreaser used in industrial operations. I will admit that my memory is a little fuzzy regarding details of who contributed more or less than the other or even if our gloriously corrupt MOE/MECP actually held them to account or not. The last published sampling was in August 2018 and TCE was at 1.44 parts per billion with a criteria of 5 ppb. Of course we hope that it hasn't risen but the inadequate regularity of sampling certainly doesn't guarantee that. ........................................................................................................................ Oh and by the way this well (G9) was off-line fro 24 weeks in 2020 with no explanation given. Could TCE levels have been too high but the Region chose not to tell the public? This report also does not advise us as to the results of HAA and THM sampling plus Method Detection Limits (MDL) are far too high for too many solvents and herbicides again with Glyphosate (Roundup) through the roof with a MDL of 25 ppb. .............................................................................................................. Hespeler well supply H3 consists of two wells namely H3 and H3A. Only one well operates at a time hence H3A was offline for 17 weeks and H3 was offline for 43 weeks in 2020. Both chlorine levels and sodium had high spikes and all the solvent and herbicide concentration results are from 2018. That is really not good in my opinion albeit not unusual. There are no results included for Haloacetic Acids (HAA) nor for Trihalomethanes (THMs). Again MDLs are far too high including Glyphosate at 25 ppb. .......................................................................................................... Well system H4 and H5 are similar to all the other Cambridge wells to date with the notable exception of very low sodium levels in well H5. Very high MDLs in solvents and herbicides tested (thank goodness in 2020) and ridiculous Glyphosate MDL continue. HAAs and THM results are also not listed in these reports which is unfortunate. Again it may be possible to find them elsewhere but why have them marked as "Show latest annual average" and then not do it???

BACK TO THE CAMBRIDGE WATER SUPPLY

As mentioned on Friday there are ten separate wells along with four different Wellfields supplying Cambridge's drinking water. On Friday we discussed the most expensive to treat Wellfield namely the Middleton Wellfield. Today we will discuss three of the individual ten wells namely, G4, G5 and G6. ......................................................................................................................... These three wells are found in Galt (i.e. G prefix) and G4 consists of wells G4 and G4A. Strangely these wells do not operate together but with only one operating at a time. Hence G4 was offline for 31 weeks in 2020 and G4A was offline for 20 weeks in 2020. This sounds suspiciously to me like musical chairs i.e. musical wells such that one operates until a contaminant plume has been drawn into it whereupon it gets shut off and then the other one starts up until the plume has been drawn over into it. And so forth. Bacteria levels in the raw water are very low and Turbidity (murkiness) is also low. The higher chlorine levels in the treated water are within a whisker of the maximum allowed namely 3 mg./liter. Sodium levels are high at 96.7 mg/l. Both Nitrates and Nitrites are at very low levels. .................................................................................................... Solvents and herbicides are similar to those discussed earlier with far too many (eight) high Method Detection Limits possibly/likely hiding low levels of these contaminants. Glyphosate is still the prizewinner (booby prize) with a MDL of 25 parts per billion (ppb). There are no results given in this report for Haloacetic Acids (HAA) or Trihalomethanes (THM) and there could and should be. .................................................................................................................... Well G5 consists of two wells namely G5 and G5A and they too only operate one at a time. The other possibility here is that there is a narrow contaminant plume which fluctuates vertically. In other words pumping possibly from one well but at different depths (i.e. different well screens) may be fine for a while until the plume is drawn to it. Then by stopping pumping at that elevation and pumping at the other depth (well screen) may draw cleaner water again for only so long befor the plume has been drawn towards the pumping. Hence again, musical chairs with the pumping. While the Region may view this as "managing" a contaminated water supply, it is still a contaminated water supply and very dangerous to do. Here again the Region are not being transparent or clear with their citizens and water consumers as to what exactly they are doing at this well and others. Similar to well G4 here we have well G5A shut down for 16 weeks in 2020 and well G5 shut down for 37 weeks. Both systems were shut down simultaneously for two weeks in 2020. During times of watering bans and water rationing this seems incongruous unless absolutely necessary for safety reasons and we should be so told. .......................................................................................................................... Sodium levels are at a ridiculous 243 mg/l and more than simply reporting them to the Health Department needs to occur. Nitrates are occasionally high albeit below the criteria. There are similar problems with solvent and herbicide MDLs as well as Glyphosate (Roundup) having a MDL at a ridiculous 25 ppb. Two by-products of disinfection HAAs and THM values are not shown in this report. ...................................................................................................................... Well G6 is on its own and was connected in 2020 to the Turnbull Water Treatment Plant at a cost of $1,200,000. While additional water treatment is rarely an error it does beg the question why. No answer here in these reports folks. Also well G6 was left offline for the entire year. What the heck??? Does Cambridge have excess water that we the public are unaware of or is this well seriously in need of better treatment? Also looking more carefully at the dates for both solvent and herbicide testing, they haven't been done since 2017! Even then they sufferred from the same problems as the rest with too many huigh MDLs and no results for HAAs and THMs. It does not take a full year simply to pipe water from one well to a different treatment system. A $1,200,000 bill for a "connection" to a different treatment system is on the surface, nonsensical. Again far more information needs to be provided to citizens and water consumers by these Region of Waterloo Annual Reports.

KNOWING ABUSE OF OLD ORDER MENNONITE NEIGHBOURS

DISCRIMINATION IN SITING OF CHEMICAL COMPANY? ................................................................................................... Of late there have been petitions on Change.Org relating to the siting of landfills, chemical companies, gravel and other obnoxious, environmental enterprises. The suggestion is that they are often proposed in low income neighbourhoods as well as in neighbourhoods of colour other than white. The theory is that one these neighbourhoods don't have the resources (money) to mount a full scale counter attack and two that based on their low incomes a potential new business in their neighbourhood might hire them, hence less opposition. There may also be a third part of that theory that considers opposition from black, indiginous, people of colour (BIPOC) to be of less significance than say opposition from white folks. In other words blatantly racist. ..................................................................................................................... It is very difficult not to believe that Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira knowingly permitted their toxic liquid wastes to flow eastwards onto their neighbours property (i.e. the Stroh farm). That said I do not believe that the Stroh family are or ever were Mennonite. That religious designation however applies to Uniroyal's neighbour on their southern border, namely the Martin household. The Martin property while immediately south of Uniroyal Chemical also extends eastwards and is located beneath (on a map) or south of the Stroh property. It is my understanding that Uniroyal and possibly later owners of the Uniroyal property had a deal with the Stroh ownership. This likely included payment for crop damages along the northern half of their mutual property line. I am however not aware of any "deals" between Uniroyal Chemical and the Martin household. ............................................................................................................... The problem arises from liquid wastes crossing over onto the Stroh property further south in the constructed (1983) Stroh Drain area. This Drain which I refer to as the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) travels southwards across the Stroh property where it joins a natural spring fed creek that continues south across the Martin property until it discharges into the Canagagigue Creek. This natural creek also both directly and indirectly replenishes the Martin swimming pond. Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach and myself both personally visited (with permission) this area and saw for ourselves how this southern end of the SDDB could be slightly diverted and additional water sent into the pond or how when the creek/SDDB was flowing well a part of it would naturally flow into the Martin pond. I have been appalled for almost seven years now that not one of our authorities (municipal, regional, provincial) have shown the slightest interest or concern that previously gravity flowing liquid wastes and or contaminated groundwater from Uniroyal/Lanxess was ending up in a private swimming pond for local Mennonite children. ...................................................................................................... The absolute refusal by all political bodies, Lanxess, MECP etc. to do basic soil testing in the most likely areas (immediate east of SDDB) is in my opinion, gross negligence. To this day DDT, dioxins/furans, lindane, PAHs and more continue to enter the creek via erosion and move further downstream. All the local guilty parties have made their self-serving deals and all the other stakeholders namely the public, nearby landowners, the environment in and around the creek, and downstream users and inhabitants are left to suffer the health consequences.

THE CAMBRIDGE WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

Cambridge currently has ten seperate wells spread between Preston, Galt and Hespeler. These wells have shifted over the years with wells "dropping off" for various reasons, usually unexplained. For example wells P6 and P7 were both located years ago in the Dumfries Conservation Area, north of the Grand River. My belief has long been that chemicals from Northstar Aerospace on Bishop St. resulted in the shutdown of both wells despite the Region of Waterloo refusing to ever confirm that. These chemicals would have included TCE, TCA and surprisingly well P6 was long tested for NDMA. Also the Cambridge water system includes wellfields such as Middleton Well System, Pinebush Well System, Shades Mill Well System and the Turnbull Well System. Today we will be looking at the Middleton Well System only. .................................................................................................... It has been my understanding for years that other than the vast costs of treating water taken directly from the Grand River; that the Middleton Wellfield water is the most expensive in the Region due to both the nearby Grand River influence as well as due to large amounts of industrial contamination including Trichloroethylene (TCE). The Middleton System consists of six wells namely G1, G1A, G2, G3, G14 and G15. Most of these are located at the south end of Cambridge, along the Grand River as it's leaving town on the way to Brantford. An expensive Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) was installed for the purpose of treating the longterm presence (decades) of trichloroethylene. I had long been convinced that Canadian General Tower, on the banks of the Grand River, was the sole culprit of both pthalates in the Grand River and TCE in the Middleton Wellfield across the street. Apparently a nearby dry cleaning establishment has also been implicated regarding TCE spills. ......................................................................................... Unsurprisingly due to the influence of river water, there is one detection of E.Coli in the raw (untreated) water and many detections of Total Coliforms as well in the raw water. Turbidity has been high on a couple of occasions while chlorine levels are acceptable. Sodium levels are far too high at 140 mg/l. Solvents and herbicides have too many high Method Detection Limits (7) that are at greater than 1 part per billion (ppb) which can hide numerous positive detections. Glyphosate (Roundup) has a MDL of 25 ppb which is simply disgraceful. Then we come to trichloroethylene. It has thirteen positive detections (1/month except 2 in July) which vary from 1.16 ppb to 1.44 ppb. While the criteria is 5 ppb and hence these levels are legal, they are not indicative of a good or safe water supply in my opinion. First of all with the millions of dollars of treatment equipment installed why are these levels not zero? Are there variable costs that can be reduced by only treating down to these levels? In other words are these concentrations being deemed "acceptable" in order to save money? They are not acceptable after decades of citizen exposure to TCE and when there are likely numerous other low level solvents and herbicides present in the water. This is simply playing Russian roulette with citizens lives and health and is shameful. This is precisely why I am not a big supporter of the Region of Waterloo's environmental personna. This and their ability to hide the names of and protect the reputation of so many foul industrial polluters throughout the Region.

WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP DRINKING WATER REPORTS

There seems to me to be some repetition in these drinking water reports above and beyond the fact that the vast majority of water users in Woolwich Township are drinking City of Waterloo water which I have described here over the last three days. Right now I'm looking at the "Woolwich North System" four page report. There were four adverse incidents of Total Coliform bacteria being present on August 1, September 22, 23 and 24, 2020. The Corrective Action described consisted of flushing and resampling which appears to have resolved the issue. I presume we are talking about water within Woolwich Township's distribution system that was initially supplied from the City of Waterloo. Lead testing shows that while lead is present in the Distribution system (pipes, hydrants etc.) it is below the provincial criteria. Unfortunately there is no testing of asbestos which most certainly is in the system as the Town of Elmira still have some water pipes made of asbestos. Both Haloacetic Acids and Trihalomethanes are tested and both are below the provincial criteria. ............................................................................................................. The half of the water system in Conestogo not on the Integrated Urban System (IUS) is located in and around the Conestoga Golf Course. It consists of two groundwater wells known as C5 and C6. Now I have just reread these two reports and they are somewhat muddy and unclear. While two wells (C5 & C6) are listed as the source water at the same time the "Conestogo Golf Water Supply System" states that the source water comes from Waterloo. Yes there is a pipeline from St. Jacobs over to the village of Conestogo (and then on to West Montrose) but what about the very longtime two wells located in and around the Conestogo Golf Course that have been used as the source water for the houses around the golf course? I think the confusion arises from my knowing that there were two separate well systems in Conestogo for decades but these reports do not clarify which wells are out of service or whether the IUS is being mixed with the Golf Course wells. Regardless solvents and Method Detection Limits share the same problems as the Waterloo System testing process. The separate report for the "Conestogo Golf Distribution System" lists the results for Haloacetic Acids (HAA) and Trihalomethanes (THM) and both are below the criteria. ............................................................................................................. There are two separate systems in the village of Maryhill. The first consists of two wells known as MH1 and MH2. Bacteria levels are very low as are both Nitrites and Nitrates. Sodium is high as in 84.8 mg/l. Solvents and herbicides have six with very high MDL (method detection limits) greater than or equal to 1 part per billion. HAAs and THMs do not have their concentrations listed in this report. .................................................................................................. The second Water System in Maryhill is known as the "Maryhill Village Heights". It consists of groundwater wells MH3, MH4A and MH5. These wells also have very low bacteria levels although the water occasionally has high Turbidity (murkiness). Sodium levels are considerably lower than in the other Maryhill system although Nitrates are higher albeit still below the criteria. Solvent and herbicide reporting share the same inadequacies as most Region of waterloo water reports including ridiculously high Method Detection Limits (25 ppb) for Glyphosate (Roundup). ........................................................................................... Possibly to add further confusion and make these reports difficult to understand and criticize, the Heidelburg Distribution System is part of the Woolwich Township Drinking Water System whereas the Heidelburg Water Supply System is listed as part of Wellesley Township. This is despite the fact that the actual wells are located in Woolwich Township although apparently the water does flow to both communities. The only item of note is the somewhat higher levels of Haloacetic Acids although they are still below the provincial criteria. Again as is usual the Region do not feel the need to let water consumers know wehat these criteria are. It is a simple YES or No in regards to "exceedances". Not impressive.

LAST OF THE CITY OF WATERLOO DRINKING WATER REPORTS

Well W10 is located in the North-West corner of Waterloo not too far from the GRCA Laurel Conservation Area. Bacteria (E.Coli & Total Coliform) do not appear to be a problem at all in the raw water from this well unlike say the Middleton Wellfield in Cambridge or the former river wells in West Montrose. Turbidity (murkiness) is low except for two events of very short duration. Chlorine levels have a high reading of 2.98 mg/l which is definitely on the high side which is odd considering the chlorine does not seem to be needed at high levels with the very low bacteria results. Well W10 was off-line for four weeks in 2020 with no explanation whatsoever such as repairing or replacing equipment. .................................................................................................... Sodium, nitrites and nitrates concentrations are relatively low as are solvents and herbicides. Unfortunately similar to other wells, the Method Detection Limits (MDL) are far too high for NINE chemicals (eg. Diquat, Picloram, Malathion, Pentachlorophenol, 2,4 Dichlorophenol Etc.). Glyphosate (Roundup) is also at the ridiculous MDL of 25 parts per billion (ppb, ug/l). Chloroamines were also found to exceed half the standard of the Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS). Similar to the high reading mentioned for chlorine, I find this a little odd and an explanation would be appreciated from the Region in the report. ........................................................................................................................ Again there are no results given in this report for other by-products of disinfection such as Haloacetic Acids (HAA) or Trihalomethanes (THM). If the purpose of these reports is to mollify, soothe or reassure water consumers and citizens then they are being sucessful. Unfortunately a much clearer and more accurate picture should be and could be provided if the Region felt so inclined. The province of course did what politicians do which is to solicit votes and approval from citizens based as much on appearances of good water as on giving the full and complete picture.

ALMOST THE REST OF THE CITY OF WATERLOO DRINKING REPORTS

Keep in mind that most of us in Woolwich Township are primarily drinking and using water supplied from the City of Waterloo via pipeline. This includes Elmira, St. Jacobs, West Montrose and half (northern) of Conestogo. The Erb St. Well Supply consists of three groundwater wells namely W6B, W7 and W8. Similar to the William St. System discussed here yesterday, it appears as if a well has gone MIA (missing in action), in this case W6A. Unfortunately the Region fail to advise readers as to where and why wells either "disappear". It would be appropriate to let readers know if wells in a particular wellfield are being "rested" or have been decommissioned and why. ................................................................................................... Turbidity levels appear acceptable as are chlorine levels generally although there was one event of a high chlorine level (2.48 mg/l) due to a brief high Turbidity level which requires higher cjhlorine to kill any bacteria. Sodium is quite low and nitrites and nitrates are good. Solvent and herbicide levels are generally good albeit there are seven of them with Method Detection Limits at 1 part per billion (ppb or ug/l) or highere. These detection limits can hide detections of these toxins in our water. Also Dichloromethane was detected at 2.02 ppb which while below the criteria is still far too high. Glyphosate (Roundup) at a MDL of 25 ppb. is disgraceful and I believe a tacit admission by the Region that this herbicide has become ubiquitous in our drinking water supplies. Chloramines (disinfection by-product) are occasionally found at greater than half the Ontario drinking water standard. Inconveniently neither Haloacetic Acids (HAA) nor THM (Trihalomethane) results are shown in this report. Possibly they can be found elsewhere but these two toxic disinfection by-products should be listed here as well. ................................................................................................... The very proximity of these wells to the Erb St. Landfill for many decades has always concerned me. The Region need to be doing much better testing and at lower MDLs. Breakthrough of solvents, courtesy of either legal or illegal disposal of them by industries, can not be ruled out despite retrofitting of leachate controls etc. Initial locations of municipal (and industrial) landfills near water wells is never a good idea.

ANNUAL DRINKING WATER REPORTS - WATERLOO

I'm doing the City of Waterloo first because the three systems there also supply most of the water up here in Elmira and St. Jacobs. Recently West Montrose and part of Conestogo were put onto the Region of Waterloo's IUS (Integrated Urban System). In the case of West Montrose the move was desperately needed for decades due to the sub standard water system in use there. While perhaps calling it homemade is a little heavyhanded nevertheless it's very location situated between the Grand River (partial raw water source) and the multiple upgradient septic systems pretty much guaranted ongoing bacteriological challemges. .................................................................................................................. The Waterloo System consists of well W10, the Erb St. Well Supply and the William St. Well Supply. Today we will look at the William St. Well Supply only and the others later in the week. This system has four wells namely W1B, W1C, W2 and W3. These wells are located near the intersection of Regina and William St. in Waterloo. The raw water seems well clear of both E.Coli and Total Coliform bacteria which is a good thing. Both the Turbidity (murkiness) and the Chlorine levels (after treatment) are quite acceptable. Sodium (Na) levels however are much too high at 228 mg/l. Levels greater than 20 mg/l are reported to the Public Health Department and Ministry of Environment every five years. It would be nice of course if they were to actually reduce those Sodium levels in the drinking water. Nitrates and Nitrites are at acceptable levels as are the vast majority of solvents. Unfortunately the solvent Method Detection Limits (MDL) include six different solvents with MDLs at 1 part per billion (ug/l) or higher. That is unacceptable albeit currently legal. Glyphosate the active ingredient has a MDL of 25 ug/l which is totally ridiculous but again legal. ..................................................................................................... Trihalomethanes (THM) are a by-product of disinfection and are occasionally high but still well below the criteria. Haloacetic Acids are similar but unfortunately their concentrations are not included in this report. The real well known and long time stinker is of course Trichloroethylene (TCE). It has been around in Waterloo's drinking water after treatment for many decades and is likely to so continue to the shame of our authorities in my opinion. Through both dilution with multiple wells and possibly pumping to waste (notice there is no W1A well mentioned in this report) the concentrations are below the 5 ug/l or parts per billion criteria but are regularly between 1 and 2 ug/l. The sources decades ago of TCE were likely Canbar, Sunar and even if my memory serves correctly, Seagram's, all former nearby industries. ................................................................................................... Lastly we have chloramines fairly consistently exceeding half the standard. Chloramines are another by-product of disinfection and can be harmful to one's health. I am a little surprised at their concentrations as bacteria really don't seem to be the problem. I hope that they aren't being used simply to mask or improve the taste of the water.