LANXESS PROGRESS REPORT OF MARCH 2021

You know it's just bizarre how Lanxess and the Ministry of Environment (MECP) can just continue on, month after month and year after year, constantly failing to achieve the necessary pumping rates that they have claimed for decades would achieve a "cleanup" of the Elmira Aquifers. As per yesterday's post here you can read how next Thursday's RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) meeting was cancelled/postponed by Woolwich pretend mayor, Sandy Shantz. Maybe besides finally admitting a few years back that they are not going to achieve "cleanup" by 2028 as promised since at least 1998, they could at least publicly pressure the company through the alleged stakeholders' groups who make up the RAC committee. Of course firstly they would have to meet more than four times a year to do so and secondly the entrenched, highly political groups would need to develop just a tad of backbone to do so. RAC consists of Woolwich Township, Region of Waterloo, GRCA, TAG Chair, one or two rotating TAG members, Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP) and Lanxess. ........................................................................................................................... It is possible with the sham of public consultation that is both TAG and RAC that Lanxess have at some point in time either privately or very quietly advised some stakeholders that they have thrown in the towel as to ever getting their off-site pumping rates even close to what Chemtura and Conestoga Rovers publicly advised CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) was necessary in November 2012. Maybe between private "technical experts" meetings and occasional virtual meetings only of RAC and TAG, it has slipped through the cracks. If so that "slippage" was intentional. .................................................................................................................... The March 2021 Progress Report is more of the same. More excuses and less pumping. Pumping well W9 is still at zero. On-site pumping well PW5 continues to pump below it's Target Average to contain on-site contaminants from leaving the site. Many years ago, Jeff Merriman of Crompton/Lanxess promised CPAC members that the on-site Municipal Aquifers pumping rate would be 6.0 litres per second. Last month's on-site pumping rate was 4.6 l/sec. And so it goes month after month and year after year without anybody seriously calling them on it. No charges, no ultimatums, no shaming, no press conferences...just silence and everybody pretending that it's all O.K. ...................................................................................................................... The total off-site pumping in March was 57.17 litres/second. In 2012 it averaged around 53 l/sec and we were advised that it needed to be tripled along with some source removal via In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO). Later they informally suggested that a mere doubling plus ISCO would achieve the 2028 deadline. Well guess what? With a few months here and there at 62 l/sec the vast majority of pumping has slightly increased to about where it is right now. There has been no use of ISCO in the Elmira Aquifers. How the hell can they even pretend that they were ever going to achieve full cleanup when they have failed so miserably to achieve their own goals and targets? It is obvious. Quietly and privately all the co-opted, politically controlled "stakeholders" have sold out the public. They must have agreed privately not to raise a stink or ever publicly demand action. Newer citizen TAG members are trying but all the authority rests with RAC. This "system" of public consultation was designed to succeed for the politicians and to utterly fail the environment and the public which is exactly what has happened. It's all window dressing, hot air, smoke and mirrors, lies and deception.