MARK WINFIELD RUNS PREMIER FORD & HIS CONSERVATIVE BUDDIES UP THE POLE

MORE OF THE MIKE HARRIS BULLS..T "COMMON SENSE REVOLUTION" COMBINED WITH REMOVING RED TAPE B/S .............................................................................................................................. MISA regulations have been repealed by the Ontario government. Isn't that sweet because at TAG (Technical Advisory Group) we were advised by Lanxess that MISA regs no longer applied to them because they had no direct discharges. Who's lying? MISA or Municipal Industrial Strategy for Abatement replaced the old system of facility-by-facility pollution discharge negotiations. There had been criticism over the years that the discharge criteria had not been strengthened. The Ford government have also removed the requirement that farmers must upgrade their nutrient management plans every five years. This was to help avoid the situation such as occurred in Walkerton whereby manure flowed during a heavy rainfall into a nearby municipal well. ................................................................................................................................ Mr. Winfield is currently a Professor of Environmental Urban and Environmental Change at York University. He is also an author and has been very active in the environmental movement for decades. Algal blooms continue on Lake Erie as well threatening Lake Simcoe. They of course are caused by nutrients (nitrogen, phosporous etc.) flowing from farms into creeks, streams and rivers that eventually discharge into larger water bodies.

MOE/MECP: PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL

Yes they play the game. Yes they pretend to consult with the public on public interest issues such as both the remediation of the drinking water aquifers in Elmira and the alleged future remediation of the Canagagigue Creek after the Human Health Risk Assessment is completed perhaps by the end of the year. It is phony consultation however with the guilty parties in full control of what passes for public consultation. Woolwich Township in deference to the MOE and Chemtura/Lanxess demands, rid the public consultation process of the members appointed by the previous council. This group included honest, educated and informed citizens who did an excellent job as proven by the reaction of the now proven incompetent guilty parties who messed up the Elmira Aquifers remediation. It was that group (CPAC) who publicly blew the whistle on the upcoming (2028) failure of the aquifer cleanup, years before the guilty parties finally admitted it, as they finally did. ...................................................................................................................... Public consultation my butkiss! Yes TAG now have some extremely technically competent members including Dustin Martin, Wilson Lau, Katerina Richter, and for some time David Hofbauer. Other very knowledgable members include Linda Dickson (land use/development? experience) and sebastian Seibel-Achenbach. But as is typical, the last TAG meeting (June 24/21) had no representatives from either the MOE/MECP or Lanxess. What the bloody hell kind of consultation is that? The MOE/MECP and Chemtura/Lanxess participated in an undeclared boycott of CPAC after they knew that the Todd Cowan Woolwich council had been ousted in the 2014 municipal election. That got Sandy Shantz and Mark Bauman to attack the best CPAC there had ever been and replace them with a convoluted Mickey Mouse system whereby TAG (real citizens) reported to RAC (bunch of bureaucrats and government toadies) who then made reccommendations to the MOE/MECP and Lanxess. What a hopeless farce guaranteed to give the company and their corrupted regulator free rein to spend both as little as possible of corporate money as well as taxpayers' money via phony and ridiculous environmental reports and conclusions. Errors, fabrications and shortcuts all to minimize the extent of contamination and hence the cleanup costs for which the MOE/MECP are also on the financial hook. ........................................................................................................................... Beware MOE/MECP. You too can end up with the ever growing black eyes of the Catholic Church, police forces and the government of Canada. Eventually no institution is safe from the truth of their past/current corruption. Your turn is coming again.

"THEY ASK WHETHER THESE (Health Issues) ARE RELATED TO CONTAMINATION IN THE CREEK. NO ONE CAN ANSWER."

Well in actual fact that second sentence in the title is not accurate. In fact lots of people can answer but it simply is not in their best long term financial and economic interests to do so. For example professionals in risk assessment, hydrogeology, biology, chemical contamination and related health problems all have employers to please. If they are employed by so called independent consulting firms, those firms all want future contracts and let's face it many of their clients are polluters of the worst sort. If their employers are governments whether provincial, regional or municipal then they follow orders from their political masters. Most politicians, government "regulators" and polluters have learned that cooperation is in all their best interests and the public interest be damned. Essentially real public consultation is mostly about leading the public down the garden path in the direction exactly where the self-interested parties want to go. Many of these self-interested and self-serving stakeholders share responsibility and culpability for the public health and environmental problems in the first place. Our so called "regulators" such as the Ontario Ministry of Environment have been captured decades ago. How couldn't they be? Their master, the Ontario government, whether Liberal or Conservative, have underfunded them intentionally both to mollify their corporate donors as well as to siphon tax payers funds to the politicians pet projects and legacy projects. Well funded multi national corporations know this and have the funds to stick it to negligent, incompetent, underfunded and equally guilty government regulators in court. Hence a long term self-serving rapport has developed. You protect our interests and we'll protect yours. Once again the public interest is given mere lip service. ................................................................................................................. The quote in the title above is from the report that a TAG member provided to their fellow TAG members regarding the upcoming creek Risk Assessment. This report is titled "Vulnerabilities of the Old Order Mennonite Farm Community". The quote in the title immediately follows other quotes in my Saturday June 19/21 posting titled "Elmira's Shame". These quotes list a litany of serious health problems sufferred by Old Order Mennonite families living along the Canagagigue Creek, downstream of Uniroyal/Lanxess Canada. ............................................................................................................................. The two closest neighbours to Uniroyal/Lanxess, the Strohs and the Martins have received some compensation for obvious and immediate damages to their crops and livestock. Possibly the Martin compensation was a one time payment for cattle that died drinking water from the creek around 1965. The other neighbour has advocated well for himself in discussions/negotiations with the MOE/MECP and Uniroyal/Lanxess over the years. ...................................................................................................................... A further quote from the report submitted to TAG (Technical Advisory Group): "Despite efforts by the GRCA to keep livestock in this area out of the Creek and floodplain, some are occasionally pastured in some areas of the floodplain, drink from the Creek, and stir up sediment in the Creek and floodplain. The families consume primarily meat raised on their own farm, vegetables raised in their own gardens, and in the past, fish caught in the Canagagigue Creek. They drink milk from their own cows. They thus have potentially greater than normal exposure to toxins through these food sources." ...................................................................................................................... Rest assurred in regards to the so called Human Health Risk Assessment these high exposures will probably be given lip service with one hand while mathematically reduced with the other. Nothing in Canada supercedes the rights of corporations to make and save their corporate profits, including collateral damage in the form of human life and health. Risk Assessments can not and should not ever be in the control of the polluting and guilty parties.

GEORGE KARLOS (MOE/MECP): "WE WANT TO REASSURE THE COMMUNITY"

ADDENDUM TO LAST SATURDAY'S POSTING TITLED "ELMIRA'S SHAME" .............................................................................................................. Those were the words in late 2011 or early 2012 which reignited the momentum to deceive the public into thinking that our authorities are looking out for our health and interests. George suggested that after the 1966 (OWRC?) study of the benthic community, sediments and soils in and around the downstream (from Uniroyal Chemical) Canagagigue Creek and followed by the 1995-96 further study by the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE Rein Jaagumagi & Donna Bedard) that it ws time to reexamine the creek sediments, soils, and lifeforms wthin it. George somehow felt that the creek would be all better now. To me that was a shocking assumption. Yes there had been decades more heavy rains, storms and flooding and yes one could assume that much of Uniroyal's toxic discharges both directly into the creek from overflowing ponds, pits and lagoons as well as by groundwater discharge should have all been gone by 1996 much less with the additional passage of sixteen more years (1996-2012). Also of course was the Elmira Sewage Treatment Plant (1965), ostensibly treating human sewage as well as Uniroyal's and other companies industrial wastes. .............................................................................................................. In other words even though the Ontario Water Resources Commission (OWRC), the MOE, Region of Waterloo, successive Ontario governments, successive Woolwich Councils, the media all knew that generations of families were living together, downstream along the grossly contaminated Canagagigue Creek; they did nothing. Nothing as far as cleaning up the manmade, for profit mess in order to protect the human beings living immediately downstream. Multi national, multi billion dollar Uniroyal Chemical offerred local jobs and income. In exchange they simply wanted and took control of the local creek (Canagagigue), air and water. According to Dr. Gail Krantzberg (McMaster University), eventually everything they discharged/disposed on their property will end up in the natural environment. Contaminants can travel through soils (soil gas), groundwater, air and surface water. Nothing and nobody nearby are safe. As these were Old Order Mennonites unlikely to either sue oe even complain, they were sacrificed. Our authorities knowingly sacrificed the health and lives of fifteen multi generational extended families hoping that the approximate five miles plus from Uniroyal to the mouth of the Canagagigue Creek at the Grand River would dilute the toxins enough not to do too much obvious damage further downstream. ................................................................................................................... As far as local in town (Elmira) residents they could suck it up. The polluted air that is. Or as one Uniroyal executive suggested it wasn't a stink that they smelled in Elmira, it was prosperity. And our local councils bent over backwards to kiss Uniroyal's buttocks from 1943 even unto today. Routine, standard operating procedure lying kept other local critics at bay regarding Elmira's drinking water. Simple denial of any possibility of contaminating the town's two wellfields was aided and abetted by the corrupt Ontario Ministry of Environment. Their greatest success was discovering NDMA in the south wellfield in November 1989, likely two decades after it first arrived. ............................................................................................................................. George Karlos's plan backfired. Starting in 2012 the findings of dioxins/furans, DDT and more in the creek sediments were shocking. Approximately fourty-five years after the direct discharges to pits, ponds and lagoons had ended the creek sediments were still full of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs - dioxins, DDT, PCBs, PAHs etc.). Dilution is the solution to pollution had failed all the professional engineers, hydrogeologists, consultants, municipal and regional bureaucrats and other assorted liars. Now here we are about to finalize another bulls.it report, this one called a Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) for the creek. How in the name of God can anybody believe that this document, totally in the hands of and under the control of the same longterm professional liars, could possibly be honest and forthright. It will be yet another whitewash or greenwash. Nothing has changed. The rot is at the top and everyone else below accomodates it.

AN INTERESTING TAG MEETING LAST NIGHT IN A NUMBER OF WAYS

Maybe I'm making a point of it? If pretend mayor Sandy Shantz wants to attend TAG meetings and speak out, then guess what? Me too. She is no more a TAG member than I, yet she feels that she can speak out, ask questions and verbally participate. Sorry but what is good for the goose is good for the gander too. ........................................................................................................................ Under New Business were my two Open Letters to TAG as well as to Woolwich and Regional Councils. Essentially it was about my Blog post here of May 14/21 regarding Dr. Jackson's tenure as TAG Chair (Sept. 2015 - Dec. 2016) and his very strong criticisms of the Elmira "cleanup" over the previous twenty-five years. There were numerous specific, technical criticisms by Dr. Jackson that TAG members 1) needed to know and 2) needed to understand. Oddly TAG members had neither comments nor questions and frankly I can hardly believe that all of them fully understood and followed things like basal gravel units, suspended sediment testing etc. without some clarification. Not a good look. .................................................................................................................................. Dustin Martin spoke to the East Side Supplemental Groundwater Investigation. He advised that both the initial report as well as the followup report did not adequately delineate groundwater flow on the Stroh property. This included the finding of NDMA 240 metres east of the Uniroyal/Lanxess property line with the Stroh farm. Upgradient or cross gradient NDMA detections need to be clarified. For me it's likely not groundwater flow but gravity flowing surface water from the former waste pits especially the northern ones that took NDMA that far east. Lanxess's consultants, GHD, agreed to better clarify and rationalize groundwater flow. Dustin mentioned that TAG were looking forward to receiving the alleged sediment results taken somewhere in the Stroh Drain last year. He also advised that GHD/Lanxess, the nervy buggers, strongly insist that all soil issues are closed and off the table. Dustin advised that TAG still want to see the sediment results first. Again I believe that they could be a red herring. We were given zero input as to where they were taken, how deep they were, who sampled and how (stupid shovel method again?), were samples split with the MECP for testing etc. etc. etc. It's a matter of trust unfortunately and I don't trust Lanxess, GHD anymore than I trusted Uniroyal/Chemtura and CRA. .................................................................................................................... Sebastian spoke about both the upcoming new creek sediment results (2020) as well as the Stroh Drain sediments. He was far too focused on the possibility that the Stroh sediments will be a smoking gun. Maybe they will but just as likely they won't whether taken honestly and properly or otherwise. Soil samples are needed, for the one hundredth time, to the immediate east of the north end of the Stroh Drain, in the low lying bowl shaped area where dioxins, DDT and more likely settled out. ............................................................................................................................. Wilson Lau spoke about the Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) and the vulnerabilities of the downstream Old Order Mennonite families. He referenced more of the plethora of private meetings going on between some TAG members and the MECP, Lanxess, GHD. These private meetings have been badly abused in the past with select, favoured and amenable UPAC and CPAC members only being invited. This is also by definition not public consultation when done in private. Wilson felt that details regarding exposure risks were not adequately covered and hence a second private meeting took place on May 20, 2021 with Louis Almeida and April Gowing of GHD. Special attention was given to dairy, egg and livestock potential transfers of contaminants to humans. Regarding intergenerational bioaccumulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants, GHD promised that a robust reasoning would be given if contaminant pathways to humans were determined to be incomplete. Promises have been nothing but wind for the last thirty-two years. What if anything has changed? ................................................................................................................................. Susan is appropriately concerned that downstream residents are already carrying a large body burden of dioxins and DDT. She suggested that DNA mutations are very possible from DDT and other chemicals in the creek. Sebastian asked whether GHD had interviewed the downstream residents. The answer was unclear as of course Lanxess, GHD and the Ministry of Environment were not present to answer any questions. What a joke. Six years ago Sandy Shantz and Mark Bauman claimed a "CRISIS" when those twits refused to attend public CPAC meetings. Now it's routine. Hypocritical shits. .................................................................................................................. Tiffany, TAG Chair, stated that the MECP want more groundwater done not soil sampling. Lanxess suggest that greater groundwater delineation is not needed. Of course they do. Afterall if they were to delineate shallow groundwater flow they would prove that the Stroh Drain is diverting on-site contaminated Lanxess groundwater off-site to the Stroh property and from there downstream back into the Canagagigue Creek. There was a mention that Lanxess and Stroh are two private property owners and hence what occurs between them is their business only. Horse manure the instant it negatively affects either the environment or human receptors downstream. Another argumant given was that there is no potable water supply on the Stroh property hence no human health risks. Therefore greater delineation is not necessary. Firstly there is an active drinking well further east on the Stroh property and secondly if the Stroh Drain since 1983 has collected highly contaminated water it has run it through the Martin swimming pond further south. There is yet more human receptors of Uniroyal/Lanxess contamination. ............................................................................................................ Linda Dickson put on her land use hat and suggested that human health will be affected with future development and land use of the Stroh property. Linda correctly insisted that Lanxess is an industrial brownfield..."a huge, huge brownfield". Therefore soil issues do matter and are serious. Well done Linda! Dustin advised that the Ministry of Environment's (MECP) position is that the Stroh site has been remediated appropriately. Tiffany Svensson also said that the Stroh "cleanup" is O.K. Wow! She also suggested that the Stroh cleanup is not public information. Wow again. Well folks this is your public tax dollars at work covering up environmental degradation and contamination. The MOE/MECP likely would have to share some of the cleanup costs of the Stroh soils the same way they are sharing 50/50 the costs of cleaning the Elmira Aquifers. Talk about a CONFLICT OF INTEREST ! Their budget versus citizens' health. .......................................................................................................... There was a tiny issue around whether or not there had been a report regarding the miniscule Stroh property "cleanup". Tiffany suggested that confirmatory sampling had caused a secondary further cleanup which I found strange. I do know that the tiny (5.9 inches deep) cleanup started in late fall or winter and that stopped during bad weather (Jan/FEB?) to be continued and finished in March. Clearly private behind the scenes discussions continue to the detriment of public understanding of what is and has been "concluded". Clearly Lanxess/GHD/MECP knew from the getgo that the tiny Stroh "cleanup" along the property line was all that was going to be done courtesy of refusing to do appropriate soil samples further south near the north end of the Stroh Drain. It appears Tiffany has made private agreements with the MECP, Lanxess and Woolwich Twn. which will benefit her (& her employer) far more than it will the public's interests. This is soft corruption at its' finest folks. Likely the majority of TAG members don't even know that they are being manipulated although by now they should have detected a fairly strong and peculiar odour. .................................................................................................................... David H. gave a synoposis about the 2020 Annual Environmental report and Lind D. discussed the ongoing monthly Progress Reports (March, April, May 2021). ......................................................................................................................................... Overall the Elmira coverup continues and the guilty parties' interests are being well protected at all political levels. Well done Sandy and friends.

HAWK RIDGE HOMES, SHANTZ STATION (Maryhill) GRAVEL PIT, OPTIMIZATION PLAN

Hmm what do those three topics above have in common? Easy: They are all three Woolwich Township issues, handled so-so, poorly and worse. ......................................................................................................................... The first and worst is the Hawk Ridge Homes proposed subdivision on Union St. across the road from Sulco (CCC) and Uniroyal Chemical (Lanxess). Will somebody please, please, please put a stake thrugh the heart of this beyond belief asinine proposed residential subdivision. Yes late night train noise is an issue but dear God death is a far bigger one. Uniroyal/Lanxess & Sulco (less so) do use toxic chemicals and there is a reason that residential housing is supposed to be kept well away from chemical companies. Thank you once again, Ken Seiling and family, for all that you have done with your former ownership of this site that has consumed Woolwich Township time, energy and money for the last twelve years (since 2009). This proposal still isn't dead as it's back to the drawing board yet again for revision after last Tuesday's council meeting. ............................................................................................................................... This past Tuesday was supposed to be the showdown in Woolwich Council Chambers. Well virtual showdown that is. In fact the showdown has been delayed until 5 pm. July 13/21 as there were something like 24 Delegations wishing to speak to Council about the proposed Capitol Paving gravel pit. I am still pessimistic that Woolwich Council will give the go ahead, not because the negative effects to homes, residents, businesses and farms can be fully mitigated but because the provincial MNRF (Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry) and the Aggregate Resources Act are both contemptible in their disdain and disregard for human beings in favour of the aggregate industry, their lobby and their power and influence. ...................................................................................................................................... Lastly we have the Optimization Plan as briefly explained at the top of page 3 of today's Woolwich Observer. This was a self-serving plan of Uniroyal/Crompton Co. and their consultants Conestoga Rovers, to reduce the longterm pumping necessary on their Elmira site which was intended to keep all Municipal Upper groundwater contamination from continued spreading throughout Elmira. It was so corrupt that the Ministry of Environment actually changed the 1991 Control Order in 2000 to permit some off-site leakage in the north-west BEFORE discussion had started much less finished at CPAC (Crompton Public Advisory Committee). That CPAC discussion crapped all over the plan including learning that a key well (CH 44?) had it's groundwater levels misinterpreted for years allowing contaminated water to move off-site. In fact it was suggested by some hydrogeologists that the only thing being optimized or improved was Crompton's financial situation with reduced pumping costs. Oh and of course this plan was endorsed by Woolwich Council of the day. Par for the course.

GIVING AWAY OUR PUBLIC WATER FOR CORPORATIONS TO SELL

Is this one of the primary purposes of government? In other words to legitimize the rape of natural resources of a country in order to profit the few at the expense of the many. When you look at aggregate (gravel), forests (lumber) and water it certainly becomes clearer. Our governments basically monetize public resources to be extracted for primarily private benefit while at the expense of the public. Our public surface water bodies have been and continue to be free sewers for polluting industries while our cleaner groundwater is sold for peanuts to multinational companies to make a fortune on while our known contaminated groundwater is primarily expected to clean itself by "natural attenuation". All of this is based upon the corporate and government principle of "dilution is the solution to pollution". Of course it is a pathetic solution that simply spreads the pollution farther afield while diluting the source concentrations over time. ......................................................................................................................................... Today's Waterloo Region Record has an excellent article written by Robert Case, a prof at Wilfred laurier as well as the Chairperson of the Waterloo Wellington Waterwatchers in Guelph. It is titled "You should worry about water when Wall Street controls the taps. This article is about multinationals monetizing the public asset that water is, whether ground or surface water. Triton Water Canada Holdings purchased the assets of Nestle which has been a controversial water bottler in Aberfoyle, Guelph and Elora for some time. The Wellington water watchers and many more do not want the Ontario government to give the company a permit to take local groundwater for use in single use plastic bottles. There had been a moratorium on water bottling in Ontario for a couple of years but that moratorium has ended. Morally these water bottling companies do not have a leg to stand on. Legally is a whole different matter as our politicians, governments and legislative assembly have long ago sold out to the highest bidders. That unfortunately is not you or me.

IS THE GRAVEL PIT GAME RIGGED? - OF COURSE IT IS

STAFF SET THE STAGE FOR WOOLWICH COUNCIL ............................................................................................................... Last Saturday's Waterloo Region Record carried the following story written by Leah Gerber titled : "Report calls for approval of Maryhill pit". Tonite's virtual Woolwich Council meeting will discuss Woolwich staff's proposal to indeed approve the proposed (Shantz Station) above water table (for now at least) gravel pit. Lest we forget, with notable exceptions Woolwich tend to approve zoning and Official Plan amendments when they are requested by gravel pit companies. Manager of planning for Woolwich, Jeremy Vink, states that municipal, regional and provincial requirements have all been met by the proponent, Capitol Paving. Of course he also advises that under the Aggregate Resources Act, the province is ultimately responsible with reviewing and handling complaints from affected residents. Historically the province, similar to the Ontario MOE/MECP, are willfully impotent when it comes to adequately providing protection and mitigation to affected residents. .............................................................................................................................. Former councillor, Bonnie Bryant and other locals will speak to Council this evening on the matter. Additional issues include the proposed recycling of asphalt and concrete that will occur at the proposed location near the village of Maryhill. Personally I expect that crushing of concrete in particular will create lots of noise and dust. Unfortunately after sucessfully turning down the proposed pit in West Montrose (last covered bridge in Ontario) and the proposed Hunder Pit between Winterbourne and Conestogo a few years back, I see little appetite for more conflict with the province and appeal expenses by Woolwich Council. The Jigs Hollow Pit debacle is likely to become the norm at least until citizens get far more aggressive and throw out both Liberal and Conservative governments at Queen's Park over the bullying of rural Ontario courtesy of the Aggrgate Resources Act. Currently there is no "balance" of citizens' rights versus the aggregate lobby.

THIS THURSDAY'S (VIRTUAL) TAG MEETING AGENDA

TAG of course stands for Technical Advisory Group. Although conceived by two Woolwich councillors in deception and deceit, quite frankly there is some very strong talent on the committee.Without slighting the others let me suggest that Wilson Lau is looking really good and Dustin Martin has a critique of Lanxess's alleged "2021 Comprehensive East Side Groundwater Report" that is excellent. Well done! ......................................................................................................................... What is nowhere to be found on the Agenda is a discussion of TAG member, Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach's November 2020 Appeal to his fellow TAG members. While I can appreciate if there are some background efforts being made, the fact is that Sebastian's concerns are legitimate and strongly based upon both common sense and available undisputed facts and data. Tha fact that Lanxess and Ramin Ansari are so "snakebitten" about this issue is to damn bad. They like their predecessors have moved heaven and earth to diminish, minimize, ignore and avoid the contamination that flowed from their property through the Gap area and over to the low lying soils on the Stroh property. ...................................................................................................................................... It seems odd to me that two e-mails that I sent TAG plus local politicians are on the TAG Agenda yet Sebastian's written concerns from seven months ago are not. I'll be blunt. Unless or until a proper and honest investigation of the soils in, around and EAST of the north end of the Stroh Drain has occurred then everything else involved with the Site Specific Risk Assessment of the Canagagigue Creek becomes merely a sham and a coverup. Having the guilty polluting parties in charge of the investigations and cleanup has always been an abomination. They have no shame, no guilt and no integrity and they keep proving it over and over again. TAG are trying hard but are vastly outgunned, outfinanced and overpowered by corrupt local politicians putting money, power and influence ahead of Woolwich citizens. As always.

ELMIRA'S SHAME

Chemical Exposure Risk Assessment of the Downstream Canagagigue Creek ............................................................................................................................ A well embedded TAG member with historical knowledge has provided a report to TAG & Lanxess titled "Vulnerabilities of the Old Order Mennonite Farm Community". She through observation as well as some discussion has flatly stated what I have only presumed and assumed for decades. That this is only coming to light at this very late date is unfortunate. It is possible however that a certain amount of discretion and confidentiality may have been promised to the Old Order Mennonite families. They had talks with the Asst. Medical Officer of Health for the Region of Waterloo way back in 1997 after sediment and floodplain soil testing (95-96) exposed dioxins and DDT at high levels well above criteria in the creek where it passes through their property. That the Region participated in these talks is exactly what a Health Department should be doing. That the Region have not pushed extremely hard for cleanup long ago speaks volumes to our inherently corrupt political system. .................................................................................................................................. It seems obvious to me that Uniroyal Chemical and local friends including Woolwich Council did not want a timely and appropriate cleanup of the creek. Back in 1997 it was nearly thirty years after the ongoing daily discharges from overflowing pits, ponds and lagoons ended. It is now nearly another twenty-five years later and it still isn't done. Of course the talk and discussion is ongoing and a threatened, pretend, risk assessment may be less than a year away but that of course guarantees nothing as far as cleanup. Rest assurred those in charge of the Risk Assessment of the Creek, namely Lanxess, GHD and the Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP) will mathematically and otherwise ensure that the "cleanup" is affordable such that the corporate successor to Uniroyal does not sue the Ontario government (MOE/MECP) for a major financial contribution to the "cleanup". As for the 50-60 year delay, that has all been to the corporation's benefit as dioxins, DDT, PAHs, PCB's, VOCs and so much more have flowed, eroded, and been flushed via storms and flooding further downstream into the Grand River below West Montrose. Every pound of toxic contamination not in the first five miles of creek downstream from Uniroyal/Lanxess, is a pound less to be excavated, transported, treated etc. ................................................................................................................................ Here is a small sample in the report of the increased exposure and in my opinion health effects resulting from toxic exposures. "Mennonite children play and swim in the creek and floodplain area. Their forts and swimming holes can be found along the Creek. With no access to TV or computers, Mennonite children play (and work) outside more than children in other communities." "Some families report illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, thyroid disorders, liver and other cancers, and miscarriages and reproductive problems." .................................................................................................................................... That our authorities with full knowledge have allowed this chemical exposure to fester and continue for so long is disgraceful. Have we as a society decided that Old Order Mennonite lives are not worthy of our care and protection? Or should I say more accurately that their lives and health are not worth as much as the financial cost of cleanup that either Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess or even the Ontario Ministry of Environment are willing to pay?

MARYHILL GRAVEL PIT PROPOSED BY CAPITOL PAVING HEADED TOWARDS A FIGHT

Of course all the laws, rules and regulations highly favour proponents of new gravel pits, not the nearby residents who have lived, worked and contributed to the community often for decades. Steve Kannon of the Woolwich Observer has in the past referred to the Ontario Aggregate Resources Act as a cudgel, hammering citizens' complaints and concerns into the dust. Yesterday's Observer carried the following story also written by Mr. Kannon titled "Maryhill residents gear up for a gravel pit showdown". For the record both the former Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) and its' sucessor the Local Area Planning Tribunal (LPAT) have substantially favoured proponents versus citizens/residents for decades. ........................................................................................................................................ Former councillor Bonnie Bryant is one of the local citizens objecting to the proposed pit outside Maryhill as it is so close to the village itself, homes, businesses and farms. There is also a nearby gravel pit causing cumulative negative effects. Capitol paving are leasing the land and allegedly the farmer will farm the land before and after each phase (5 of them). Of course there is the old saw that the land will be restored to prime farmland after excavation. That nonsense was well illustrated to be impossible by soil experts at the proposed Hunder Pit between Conestog and Winterbourne a few years ago. Bacteria, fungi and other microbial life helpful to crop production develop over decades in situ. Removing topsoil and putting it in a pile for a lengthy periodtotally disrupts the capability and viability of these lifeforms. ................................................................................................................... To date Woolwich's Planning Department are in support of the proposed pit suggesting that all the proponent funded studies are in order and that mitigation of negative effects will be acceptable. Council meets virtually this Tuesday and citizen Delegates (Virtual) are hoping to convince Council otherwise. This proposed pit is simply Same Old b/s, Same OLd b/s. It's a dance with the results intentionally rigged by the province. Yes there have been a couple of surprise victories over the years such as the refusal of the Hunder Pit as well as the refusal of the proposed gravel pit in West Montrose. That too as I recall was a Capitol Paving project.

NORMAL ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL POLITICAL (Regional) PRIORITIES ALWAYS TRUMP UNSEEN ENVIRONMENTAL ONES

This is why the small village of Heidelberg have been left drinking water from a contaminated (gas & diesel) supply for so many years. This is why tiny West Montrose residents were at risk for decades with their bacteria laden raw water supply. On the other hand the town of Walkerton had better infrastucture but were laden with incompetent employees (2), incompetent local politicians and incompetent, underfunded Ontario Ministry of Environment (thank you Premier M. Harris). Walkerton also had a much larger population than Heidelberg or West Montrose and when the residents suddenly fell sick en masse, it was a crisis. A very public crisis as the depth of the incompetence resulting in E. Coli contamination unfolded. People died - unfortunately nothing unusual and in fact I expect that if the crisis had been about seven sudden, difficult to explain deaths only, I'm sure our authorities would have done exactly that: explain it away. The problem was the 2,000 other people who were violently ill, hospitalized and bed ridden. A coverup was beyond even the capabilities of our biggest professional liars. ................................................................................................................................ E. Coli is a sudden and dramatic killer. Benzene, toluene, xylenes, NDMA and a plethora of other industrial solvents, degeasers and by-products are not. They do their work slowly and inexorably. They cause a multitude of health injuries and sicknesses over a period of years and decades not hours, days and weeks. Cancer is but one of the endpoints for industrial discharges whether in air, groundwater or surface water. Of course our authorities can and do explain those away as sometimes being lifestyle choices i.e.smoking & drinking , bad diet etc. .......................................................................................................................... Politicians prefer to spend taxpayers money where it will do themselves the most good, for example with Arts buildings, arenas, and of course the LRT in Kitchener-Waterloo. Infrastructure such as roads and buildings are visible. Water protection and treatment not so much. Hence unless there is a crisis such as the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis (NDMA) there is little incentive to go whole hog and do the right thing. In fact the Region, the Township and the province (MOE/MECP) didn't even come close to doing the right thing in Elmira. The cleanup within thirty years of the Elmira Aquifers have failed and even the guilty parties admit that. The Uniroyal (Lanxess) site remains a toxic mess although allegedly it is "contained" although the parties saying so are the same ones who promised to clean up both the Aquifers and the Canagagigue Creek. Neither have been accomplished. ...................................................................................................................................... I have to date received one response back regarding the proposed Heidelberg water supply and my e-mails to the Region of Waterloo and their consultants, Stantec. I am advised by the Region that "...your input on the historical aspects of the local area are noted." Hmm "historical aspects". Really? I believe that the treatment of the soils and groundwater is ongoing. Oh well now that my concerns have been "noted" I should be able to rest easy. Right? Our regional politicians would never sell out local Heidelberg residents with an inadequate water supply/treatment would they? Hopefully at the worst they would only lie and minimize the source of the contamination not underfund a new supply or underfund proper treatment. Hopefully.

ARE THE REGION OF WATERLOO PLAYING FAST & LOOSE WITH REALITY REGARDING THE HEIDELBERG WATER SUPPLY ENVIR. ASSESS.?

First question: Have the Region of Waterloo ever played fast and loose with environmental issues before such as say in Elmira, West Montrose and Cambridge? The answer is yes. Is there any issue regarding the Heidelberg water supply that they have kept on the downlow for a very long time? Again the answer is yes. That would be the groundwater contamination plume emanating from the former Strauss garage at the corner of Lobsinger Line and Kressler Dr. (i.e. "downtown" Heidelberg). Exactly how serious is that plume? Well it took decades to discover the extent of the leakage whether from subsurface gasoline or diesel tanks and or other discharges. Cleanup has been ongoing for many years and to my knowledge still continues. Essentially the volume of discharge resulted in free phase liquids (LNAPLS) below ground surface for sure and maybe even some DNAPLS. Then of course is the relative short distance from this site to the two drinking water wells pumping merrily away for decades and drawing the contaminants towards themselves. All in all not a good situation. ............................................................................................................................ I will say this. I believe that the Region kept the serious bacterial contamination courtesy of both the Grand River and the septic systems in West Montrose on the downlow for decades. They have now finally replaced the wells beside the Grand River in West Montrose with a pipeline to Conestogo which is also hooked up to the pipeline from Waterloo to St. Jacobs and Elmira. It took far too long and now it appears to me that they are finally addressing another groundwater contamination issue (Heidelberg) years to decades late in Heidelberg. ........................................................................................................... I have sent a couple of pithy comments by e-mail along to two gentlemen. One is an employee of the Region and the other of the consulting engineering firm involved namely Stantec.

EXCELLENT GRAVEL PIT ARTICLE IN TODAY"S RECORD

The title of the article written by Leah Gerber is "Where is our countryside?". That is a quote from Sue Foxton, mayor of North Dumfries in Waterloo Region. She and numerous others, including hydrogeologists Emil Frind and Michael Frind, have pointed out the existing plethora of stockpiled, licensed aggregate sites sitting empty and idle. Despite the industry's claims of constantly needing new gravel pits, the reality is that the demand for gravel currently and in the past is far below the capacity of existing licensed pits much less future new proposed pits. In fact of the six gravel pits near the proposed Hallman Pit in Wilmot Towwnship (just off Huron Rd.) only one is consistently active. Another has been licensed for gravel extraction for thirty years and has not had a single ton of gravel extracted. This is the reality of proposed gravel pits in Waterloo Region and Ontario. It's more about beating the competitors to the sources of future gravel (years to decades down the road) than to any current or immediate future need for them. In fact the Ontario Ministry of Resources and Forestry specifically refuse to allow market need to even be part of the discussion. The Province of Ontario have long been in bed with the aggregate industry which may reflect the industry's support for our two largest political parties. Afterall donations would dry up if the donating parties didn't feel that they were getting their money's worth. ............................................................................................................................................... The Frind's believe that sunset clauses need to be included with aggregate licenses. In other words a pit operator/owner requesting an aggregate license must commit to removing the gravel and rehabillatating the site within a reasonable time length. That could be ten or fifteen years depending upon the amount of gravel available. Both Woolwich Township and the Region of Waterloo have supported the idea of sunset clauses along with other restrictions such as on below water table extraction. So far our corrupt provincial politicians remain firmly in bed with the money holders.

BRIEF RESPONSE TO A PETTY, FOOLISH UNPUBLISHED COMMENT FROM THE IDIOT TROLL OVER IN GUELPH (Barry)

This is an example of why I don't publish the vast majority of his comments. When they aren't simply rude ("...pile of crap.") with no further specifics, then they are woefully stupid as he complains, whines and moans that I haven't produced the Open Letter To TAG members or the Open Letter to the various municipal and regional politicians as he did a week ago. In fact both those letters were published here in the Elmira Advocate in their entirety and clearly marked as "Open Letters". The first Open Letter to TAG members was published on May 14/21 and can be found using the Blog Archive on the right side of the page. The second Open Letter to the various local politicians was published here in the Advocate on May 29/21 and also can be found using the Blog Archive on the right side of the page. Very easy and simple. So it seems obvious that he barely skims over the posting of the day looking for something/anything to complain about and in his haste or inability to understand plain English he blathers on about "facts" or "issues" that his own worn out brain has imagined. If he even were to reread the postings once prior to sending what he refers to as comments, he would realize (hopefully) that he's misunderstood/forgotten what the original posting said. .................................................................................................................... Finally just let me add that for many years I did not use "Comment Modification" or what in reality is simply looking at readers' comments prior to publication. This was not necessary for many years as rude, stupid comments were deleted after the fact by yours truly whereas poor, weak, possibly uninformed comments that were however relevant to the posting were responded to, mostly in an informative manner. Even blatantly biased, pro Uniroyal etc. comments if they were on topic were responded to specifically on the facts and data and hence those commenters soon disappeared to avoid further correction. Barry on the other hand really is a troll simply too lazy to seriously read and understand and who claims that he has the unbridled right to insult, critize and carry on about everything as if that is ever going to get me to publish his generally incoherent, inaccurate, rude nonsense. If and when his comments actually are relevant and even half coherent on the issue that I have raised in one of my postings, then his comments will be published. Meanwhile anybody and everybody else are welcome to comment as long as they are at least close to being relevant to the topic raised whether in agreement or disagreement.

REGION OF WATERLOO NEW SEWER USE BYLAW THIRTY-ONE YEARS LATER

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following story titled "New sewer bylaw tightens limits on contaminants". Hmm. I wonder how many people remember the why and what of 1990, Uniroyal and Varnicolor Chemical scandals? At the time I provided doumented evidence to the Ministry of Environment as well as to the Region of Waterloo that Varnicolor Chemical were violating every law and agreement that they had with the Township, the Region and the province. They were simply slightly classier midnight dumpers hiding behind licensing and minimal "treatment" of the toxic wastes that they were permitted to receive. These infractions included illegal use of the Region's landfills and sewers. Lo and behold the Region investigated only to discover that the very same lab analysis was being included with each load of chemical waste being dumped into their landfill. Hey a photocopier is a lot cheaper than actually treating and analysing wastes. Rgarding sewers Varnicolor regularly were dumping used paints and solvents down their floor drain at 62 Union St. from where they could go either untreated into the storm sewers and the Canagagigue Creek or alternatively to the Elmira Sewage Treatment Plant. ........................................................................................................................... Supposedly the new sewer bylaw will have stricter criteria for heavy metals and PCBs. Really are you telling me that ANY PCBs are allowed in our sewers? Doubtful! The new bylaw also provides the Region the opportunity to issue their own tickets rather than have to take offenders to court. As with all laws they are only as good as the enforcement that follows. In 1990 enforcement and monitoring were pathetic and dirty polluters took full advantage. I would like to think that today enforcement of environmental laws is better than thirty years ago although that really isn't much of an achievement.

WOOLWICH ARE SNEAKING THE HAWK RIDGE ZONE CHANGE & DEVELOPMENT THROUGH

O.K. ...maybe...they aren't exactly "sneaking" the development through. Past Woolwich Councils have dug in their heels in conjunction with Chemtura, Sulco and local citizens trying to stop this abortion of bureaucratic nonsense and blatant in your face lack of common sense. It will be two virtual meetings however with Council fully in charge of the microphones, process etc. In other words as they have done in the past, Woolwich Council can if they choose, behave like teenagers on marijuana. .................................................................................................................................... Hawk Ridge Homes is proposed to be built on Union St. in Elmira, across from both Lanxess (Uniroyal) and Sulco (CCC). Both companies have in the past let fly with TOXIC emissions. Sulco have been by far the better/cleaner/more responsible of the two companies. That is first hand evidence that some companies fully embrace the ethic of *Responsible Care while others fully embrace lip service to it. Lying, deceit and disinformation are not supposed to be part of corporate *Responsible Care. ................................................................................................................................. I received a Notice in the mail that the Woolwich Committee of the Whole will meet on Tuesday, June 22, 2021-7 pm. to DISCUSS the Hawk Ridge Zone Change Application. Decisions will be made the following week at Council Meeting (Tues. June 29/21-7 pm.). These virtual proceedings will be televised on the Woolwich Township You Tube channel and virtual participation is possible through either emailing asmyth@woolwic.ca or phoning 519-669-6004. I view this as a done deal despite the stupidity of permitting more residential units beside Lanxess Canada. How convenient that provincial policy discouraging building residential units beside chemical companies can be so easily overcome. Please do not forget what family (Ken Seiling) inherited the property from a family member and then sold it to developers for this residential construction. There will be lots of guilty parties when the likely inevitable happens.

Will ONE TAG MEMBER'S APPEAL TO THE REST FINALLY BE DISCUSSED AT TAG?

In February 2020 I presented a written Delegation to the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) which included maps, pictures and text. It was written only, not verbal, because pretend mayor Sandy Shantz has forbidden the public from speaking, whether questions or comments at TAG meetings. This of course was done to appease Chemtura Canada (now Lanxess) and the Ontario Ministry of Environment who were allegedly crumbling under the onslaught of educated, informed and honest senior citizens (mostly) who were publicly both embarassing them and destroying their credibility. My Delegation clearly showed the ground surface elevation (topography) from Uniroyal/Lanxess's eastern side as well as of the Stroh property. Admitted overflowing liquid wastes from toxic waste pits, RPE 1-5, crossed the property line in several locations including further south on the Stroh property. Sixteen months later and I have not received any comments, criticisms or acknowledgement of the information presented, whether positive or negative. I have asked for this feedback but NOTHING has been forthcoming either from the TAG Chair, Tiffany Svensson or from the TAG members as a whole. ................................................................................................................................ Last August I followed up with two letters (via e-mail) to the TAG Chair and members advising of the failure in process and transparency whereby a citizen submits a detailed and comprehensive report to TAG, they privately reject it in it's entirety (after an admitted private consultation with Ramin Ansari of Lanxess), and then they (TAG) refuse any explanation, rationale or reason either public or private to myself. ........................................................................................................................... The following month one TAG member (Sebastian) very politely and diplomatically advises TAG in writing that he is unhappy with the reliance on expert "opinion" from Lanxess's consultants, GHD, that there are no soil or groundwater contaminant issues near the Stroh Drain on the southern part of the Stroh property. Sebastian has repeatedly and politely asked that soil samples be taken in and around the Stroh Drain. Groundwater samples and even sediment samples might also be helpful but soil samples are most important and likely to indicate if there is a "sink" of POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) such as PCBs, DDT, dioxins/furans and more in the area. Lanxess contineu to refuse and the MOE/MECP do nothing helpful as usual. ..................................................................................................................... Last November, seven months ago, Sebastian sent a formal "Appeal" to his colleagues on TAG asking them for support in the matter. He advises that he is not an expert nor any smarter than any of them however honest and appropriate soil sampling will determine if there is a problem or not. He, Sebatian, has often used the term "snakebitten" to describe Lanxess's (and Ramin's) attitude and response to requests for proper sampling. To date there have not been any intelligent, specific reasons given for the company's and MOE's refusal to do this testing. The appearance however is very clear. The guilty parties are afraid (or already knowledgable) of what they will find and how much it will cost to remediate it. There are other political reasons involved as well as promises and commitments to development have been signed for the Stroh and Martin farms on the east side of Elmira. These commitments occurred after and despite citizens and the public having presented evidence of the contamination on the Stroh property. ......................................................................................................................................... This matter is a hot potatoe for all the guilty parties although of their own making. Lanxess, GHD, MOE/MECP and Woolwich Township have behaved extraordinarily badly on this matter. Apparently the health of human beings and the environment are merely lip service to them. TAG members have a choice. They can finally on June 24/21 openly and honestly discuss Sebastian's "Appeal" or they can allow their Chair to continue to bury any discussion whatsoever without reasonable cause. Will TAG members step up or not?

WE HAVE A NEW TAG MEETING DATE

I was advised by e-mail from Lisa Schaefer, Support Specialist for RAC and TAG that the new meeting date is two weeks from tomorrow (i.e. Thursday June 24, 2021, 6:30 pm.). The meeting unfortunately will still be a virtual one although with the low attendance, high vaccination rates, masks and some additional spacing between participants I think that by June 24 in person meetings are due. Overall I would say that Lisa has been extremely helpful towards my attendance (virtual or otherwise) with timely e-mails to me advising me of the time and dates. ..................................................................................................................... For new readers RAC stands for Remediation Advisory Committee and is composed of bureaucrats, agencies, government employees plus a couple of rotating TAG members. It has the authority to directly advise Lanxess and the Ministry of Environment ( MOE/MECP). On a scale of 1-10 for effectiveness it might on a good day be a 2. TAG (Technical Advisory Group) on the other hand is more of a citizens' group which has evolved into generally quite a technically competent group of individuals. These citizens consist of professional educaters, biologists, risk assessors, hydrogeologists, soil experts, one polluter co-opted individual and more. On the face of it these citizens through education, experience and integrity deserve a 9 out of 10 for effectiveness. The problem is that they are intentionally nuetered via Uniroyal/Lanxess, MOE/MECP and Woolwich Township. Their authority is nil and all they can do is recommend actions to RAC who know little, care less but are experts at playing the game. Therefore TAG's effectiveness is at best a 4 out of 10. That said their first Chair, Dr. Richard Jackson did try to push them into going as a group to the media to out the MOE/MECP plus Uniroyal/Chemtura/Lanxess and their consultants CRA (now GHD). This was in mid to late 2016 but was way out of the new TAG members comfort level. ......................................................................................................................... It was out of their comfort level because these new members did not have even 1% of Dr. Jackson's experience dealing with professional liars, deceivers and manipulators. The bulk of TAG's predecessor namely CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) had been removed by Sandy Shantz (pretend mayor) and councillor Mark Bauman through reversing their own application process to throw out all the CPAC members who had properly applied in November 2014 to the upcoming newly appointed public advisory committee dealing with Uniroyal/Chemtura (later Lanxess). Hence the old CPAC probably would have followed Dr. Jackson's direction and suggestions whereas the new TAG simply didn't know what they were up against with an entrenched, embedded, corrupt system that among other nastiness picked and chose inexperienced (to the Elmira water crisis) albeit intelligent citizens while throwing out formal and properly submitted applications to remain on the public advisory committee from CPAC members. .............................................................................................................................. As of this date the vast majority of CPAC members will not attend TAG or RAC meetings. They did early on and were appalled at the rules and regulations refusing any questions or comments whatsoever from the public in attendance. The TAG/RAC Chairs were absolutely forbidden to permit even a single question from the public and or CPAC members in attendance. CPAC were also appalled that questions and confusion over the most agreed upon facts and knowledge over 2 1/2 decades could not be assisted or clarified by CPAC members present early on. Also of course Uniroyal/Chemtura/Lanxess and the MOE/MECP did not routinely attend TAG meetings hence even formal TAG members often could not ask either the polluter or their alleged regulator (MOE/MECP) questions and get prompt responses. Frankly I don't remotely blame CPAC members for not attending because it is intentionally an exercise in futility and frustration. What an abomination masquerading as "public consultation".

COURTS, ELECTION EXPENSES & COVERUPS

Today's history lesson is from the October 1, 2015 Woolwich Observer newspaper and from the October 2, 2015 Waterloo Region Record. The first is a cartoon showing me standing behind the counter in the Municipal building saying hello while pretend mayor Sandy Shantz is in a backroom flushing money labelled "Useless Legal Expenses" down the toilet. While it's a funny cartoon it does somewhat attempt to diminish the seriousness of multiple local (Woolwich) politicians playing fast and loose with the Municipal Elections Act for many, many years. They had gotten so comfortable with their tame Municpal Clerk knowing her place that they simply made up their own election rules as they went including Mark Bauman not eveb filing any Financial Statements multiple times. And the Clerk who is entrusted to provide at least a modicum of supervision simply went along with it. She even told me that some of the illegalities "...were a Woolwich tradition" as if that excused them. ........................................................................................................................................ The second article (Oct.2/15) is written by Paige Desmond of the Record and is titled "Woolwich Mayor Shantz's court date delayed to Oct. 28 due to mix-up". Boy does that describe the pathetic and pitiful court processes and procedures that I stepped into in attempting to hold the mayor (pretend) and two other councillors accountable. Disorganized, woefully uninformed and grossly user unfriendly. A complete waste of any citizen's time who is trying to get election laws enforced in this stupid province. Neither Justices of the Peace, clerks, staff, lawyers , prosecuters or anybody seemed to know or care what the Municipal Elections Act (MEA) insisted upon. Why do our legislaters pass laws at any level that they will not enforce nor will they properly assist citizens who have stepped up and exercised their legal right to lay a charge? From Superior Court in Kitchener to criminal court to Provincial Offences court it was a huge waste of time due to the incompetence and apathy of those involved to seriously examine the facts and the evidence. Keep in mind the only reason I went to court is because the municipal system of MECAC (Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee) was nothing but an old boys and girls club made up of former municpal politicians rallying around current politicians all of whom likely misbehaved exactly the same when in office. What a joke!

MENTAL HEALTH VERSUS INTELLECTUAL HEALTH?

On occasion when things have looked bleak in regards to making any progress on the Elmira cleanup of the aquifers and the Canagagigue Creek I have searched for a reason to keep fighting. Only somewhat jokingly I have suggested that all the reading, all the research, all the writing of letters to politicians, TAG, Ministry of Environment, media people, this Blog etc. has kept my brain exercised. If that's all there was to it however I probably would not have kept going. It sounds corny but there are two other elements: One is a search for the truth versus the pre-digested puffery and pablum presented to the public and two is the wish to leave an honest and fairly comprehensive record of the "cleanup" including successes (some) and failures (far too many). Again that record lies here in the Elmira Advocate as well as in my 2019 on-line book titled "The Elmira Water Crisis: The Triumph of Corruption, Deceit and Citizen Betrayal". ........................................................................................................................ The title above refers not to just myself but to citizens at large. I understand how much stress and pressure we have in this world today. Money, jobs, housing, children, their education, Covid-19, the cancer epidemic, climate change, racial inequity, overpopulation, water shortages (quality & quantity). Then we have the ongoing onslaught of bad news in our print and television media. Lately it's been police abuse of minorities including here in Waterloo Region. Far too many police officers are assaulting and shooting local citizens, whether black, brown or white. Indigenous abuses such as the federal government/Catholic Church residential schools system is front page news yet again with the discoveru of 215 childrens' bodies in unmarked graves. ............................................................................................................................. For far too long I was constantly shocked and angered by the amount of public apathy and ignorance on so many important topics. For example today's Waterloo Region Record has a headline titled "Most Canadians are ignorant to nation's residential school history". True and so unfortunate. Again the same paper today has the following FRONT PAGE headline namely :"Officer's abuse hidden for decades". Good God but that was about a police officer in Listowel in the 1970s assaulting young boys. The first sentence states: "It was a dirty little secret in this small town - a police officer sexually abusing young boys in the 1970s.". Allegedly other officers and adults either knew or suspected and did nothing until the officer was charged and convicted in 2013, decades later. ................................................................................................................................... Combine the daily and personal stresses and pressures we all face with the sheer volume of bad news in our media (war, famines, genocide, crime) on a daily basis and now I understand why people tune out. They simply can't stand it anymore. I will give you a likely poor metaphor but here it is. The recent seventh game of the Montreal Canadians versus the Toronto Maple leafs. I am a Leafs fan since childhood. I watched them win three Stanley Cups in the 1960s. After blowing a 3-1 series lead I simply could not watch Game 7. Too much pain and disappointment over the last five decades such that I was afraid of what watching a Game 7 loss would do to me. Maybe it's the same with millions upon millions of people tuning out to far more important events as well. Way too painful on top of the daily grind for most.

IDIOTIC HAWK RIDGE PROPOSAL STILL VIABLE

It's not looking good. Firstly the powers that be decided somehow (miraculously?) that possibly fatal health effects weren't part of their good planning purview. At least that's how it looks to us lay persons when we finally learned that Hawk Ridge got busted years ago because of NOISE. Yes noise from trains shunting at Chemtura/Lanxess and Sulco in the middle of the night. Now don't get me wrong. Noise is not appreciated anytime but especially not in the middle of the night. So as the developers could not devise a system to keep the noise decibels below a certain criteria (Class 2) they did the next best thing. They changed the criteria to Classs 4 which allows for a higher decibel count but it will be much better for citizens woken up in the midlle of the night as they understand that it was legal noise that woke them, not illegal noise. And that logic folks explains why the human race is doomed. We are stupid enough to think it up and we are stupid enough to believe it and for the non-believers we are stupid enough not to do anything about it. ................................................................................................................................. Oh and back to toxic fumes. Closed windows and mandatory air conditioning might somewhat lessen the impact of both noise and odours but if the power is out windows will be open in the summer negating the mitigation completely. Will air conditioning stop a horrible out of control fire from LanxessCanada? Who knows but at least those suffocating or burning to death will do it in air conditioned comfort. Maybe. Or not. Same kind of logic as regards changing a criteria in order to meet it. Somewhat like the bad old days (?) of increasing the permitted concentration of a contaminant in drinking water if you couldn't meet the old one. Afterall no need to scare the locals, what.

MOE/MECP "CRITIQUE" OF A LANXESS (GHD) GROUNDWATER REPORT

Firstly there are some significant and worthwhile suggestions/reccommendations by the Ministry of Environment's hydrogeologist (May 18/21). Unfortunately based upon her comments regarding past reccommendations ignored by Lanxess/GHD I have to ask how many of these new ones will actually show up in the revised report. The nine page critique generally is supportive of GHD's conclusions that they have substantially delineated the groundwater regieme on the Stroh property. Yet again all the guilty parties (Uniroyal/Lanxess/GHD/MECP ) just can't seem to get around actually putting the name of the property in print. They keep calling it 6770 Line 86 rather than the "Stroh property". I view this as just one more concession (i.e. private deal) between the guilty parties and Mr. Ron Stroh. I also don't view that deal as being remotely in the public's interest. In fact why should it be? That is the inherent purpose of private deals: make the signatories happy and to hell with the unwashed masses (i.e. the public) who breathe the air, drink the water and eat the food grown on this site. .............................................................................................................. I find the suggestion that a NDMA reading 250 metres east of Lanxess and (cross-gradient) is an anomoly to be rather naive at best. I find that the high concentrations along the Lanxess/Stroh property line to be astounding considering that those east side pits were allegedly closed mostly prior to 1980 with the last two (RPE-4 & 5) excavated in 1993. I find any readings whatsoever of NDMA or any other signature chemicals from Uniroyal/Lanxess found fourty to fifty years after the pits were out of operation (1966-70) and 250 metres either up gradient or cross gradient to be immense cause for alarm. Clearly the history that we have been given is not totally accurate. Groundwater moves albeit slowly but that simply doesn't add up with the narrative the public have been given. .................................................................................................................................... I believe that the Ministry's hydrogeologist needs to better acquaint herself with the alleged toxic waste history of Uniroyal Chemical etc. and advise if the current results half a century later make any sense at all. ........................................................................................................................ P.S. As per Wednesday's (2 days ago) posting, the number of CPAC members responding/commenting to my Open Letter to TAG has risen to Five. No increases or changes for the goose eggs (0) received back from the Township (Woolwich) or the Region of Waterloo. TAG remains at the 1 response from the CPAC member on the committee.

OUR AUTHORITIES CONTINUE TO REFUSE CALLS FOR A HEALTH STUDY IN ELMIRA

How many premature deaths does it require? Why do we the citizens of Elmira have zero data or statistics to be able to see if there are and have been cancer clusters here? The health results to exposure to both solvents, pesticides and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are well known. Uniroyal Chemical drenched their soils, groundwater and surface water (Creek) and air in all of them. Tumours, diabetes, cancers and a host of other illnesses are the well known results of subjecting human beings to certain chemicals. ................................................................................................................................. To this day the groundwater both on and off their site is contaminated above drinking water standards with NDMA, one of the most carcinogenic compounds known to mankind. One of the other highly carcinogenic and worse compounds namely dioxins and furans are still in the soils also on and off the Uniroyal site. Despite this our authorities continue to suppport and insulate Uniroyal/Lanxess from calls for honest and appropriate soil testing off their site. This doesn't just include the already proven dioxins and DDT etc. that flowed eastwards onto the Stroh property and likely southwards onto the Martin property. DNAPLS leaving the Uniroyal site westwards onto the former Nutrite (Yara) property and possibly even further likely carried dioxins/furans and DDT along with them. DNAPLS of course are Dense Non Aqueous Phase Liquids that gravity flow underground and slowly over decades or centuries dissolve into the groundwater. ............................................................................................................................. Any honest jurisdiction would long ago have properly and scientifically determined exactly where both the DNAPLS and Dioxins etc. flowed off-site. They then, instead of covering up the health crisis, would have either removed them or rendered them immobile by various technologies including encapsulation. Unfortunately Elmira and area does not reside in an honest jurisdiction that puts both citizen and wildlife health ahead of corporate profits and or municipal budgets.

SCOREBOARD TO DATE: CPAC- 4, WOOLWICH COUNCIL- 0, REGIONAL COUNCIL- 0, MEDIA- 0, TAG- 1 (sort of)

My Expectations : Firstly keep in mind that the "game" is not over yet. I had expected 4-6 CPAC members to comment, phone or e-mail regarding my two recent "Open Letters" to TAG members so that is close. I expected 0-1 Woolwich Councillors and 0-1 Regional councillors to respond so that's pretty close. The 1 (sort of) response from TAG is also one of the four to date responses from CPAC members. I had actually expected 2 responses so that so far is disappointing yet as stated, the "game" is not over. Media I expected 0-1 response so that is close. Clearly my expectations of citizens and local residents are significantly higher than they are of paid, professional (?) politicians. ...................................................................................................................................... Politicians and their various mouthpieces whether the Township CAO or whomever may be more comfortable with bombastic cheerleading when they respond to either citizens' complaints or concerns. Hence after a few such letters/responses from them being chewed up and spit back at them they become a little more careful. I know Mark Bauman on occasion warned his council (Woolwich) colleagues not to engage critically or in opposition to my position after I presented a Delegation to them. He and Sandy and others got burned once or twice because I was far better versed in my subject matter than they were. ............................................................................................................................ TAG's lack of response is revealing. I had devloped a very good rapport with TAG Chair Tiffany Svensson from January 2017 until about last summer when I learned that my written Delegation (all that is allowed) to TAG in February 2020 regarding the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) had been privately rejected in it's entirety by Lanxess (Ramin Ansari) and then apparently again privately by TAG members. What the hell! A public written report to TAG by a citizen on a serious relevant matter to their mandate didn't even rate either a written or public verbal response. What little respect I had left for TAG and Tiffany hung by a thread on two e-mail letters that I sent her making it clear that any public consultation body that advertised for written Delegations from the public only (i.e. no verbal ones) had to at the very least respond to that Delegation and if the response was 100% negative then some form of reasoning or rationale was required. Tiffany responded with one totally unsatisfactory letter with zero technical/scientific or even logical reasons given for her, TAG's and Lanxesses private decision to ignore/deny my Delegation. ............................................................................................................................. It is so far beyond clear that Lanxess, GHD, MECP (Environment Ministry) and Woolwich Township are all in bed together and always have been. Polite, deferential, professionally soft and plaintive letters of concern will be responded to with gloss, puffery, lies and deceit. All other public input, especially informed and competent, is not appreciated. They flew over even the tiniest attempt at honest public consultation when Ramin and Tiffany made the decision in a private phone call to ignore my Delegation of February 2020. Tiffany at a later date then so advised TAG members who likely had little or no forewarning and hence little or no discussion or debate. All of this was of course done privately out of the public eye and especially out of the eye of the citizen Delegate, yours truly. WHAT A DISGUSTING FARCE OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION. ................................................................................................................................... Very few human endeavours are totally beyond redemption but the Elmira "cleanup" and farce of public consultation is so close now. Go ahead elected councillors, keep on burying your heads in the sand. Your day of public reckoning for your negligence and lack of due diligence will arrive.

MURDERED CHILDREN OR INTENTIONAL NEGLECT COMBINED WITH GOVERNMENT & POLICE TACIT CONSENT TO BURN DOWN AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY (within Tulsa, Okalahoma)

Isn't the timing of the two historical and horrific murders and hatred surprising. Yes the 100 year anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma massacre was upcoming and expected. Allegedly the discovery of 215 children's bodies buried in unmarked graves at a residential school in Kamloops B.C. was not. I have often commented here upon the ability of governments and government bodies/agencies to coverup scandals, abuse of authority, dereliction of duty, incompetence etc. However both these horrors are so far past mere "coverups". They are so far past conspiracies, Sandy. They are so far past even the failures and refusals to conduct health studies in Elmira, Ontario and to clean up the English-Wabigoon river systems at Grassy Narrows. .................................................................................................................... The bodies of 215 children were buried in the ground without markers or presumably even telling the parents where their dead children were. In Tulsa estimates range from dozens of dead Black Americans to possibly three hundred dead. No one knows because these human beings simply disappeared. According to last nights television special (Ch. #61) dead, shot, burned bodies were simply collected and thrown into mass unmarked graves in a local cemetery. Again no attempts were made to identify the dead nor inform the next of kin. Even more devastating was that police and national guard were present and observed the two day rampage that destroyed 35 blocks of the Greenwood community in Tulsa. They stood there and did not stop the arson, looting and murder. They also did not charge a single soul with any offence. It was like nothing had happened. To this day there has been no accounting of blame or responsibility and there has been no determination of financial damages to homes and Black businesses destroyed during the riots. Despite civil suits asking for reparations from culpable municipal and state governments, not one penny has been paid to the survivors of the massacre or to their descendants. Isn't our judicial system (British & American) just a thing of beauty? .......................................................................................................... I am starting to wonder if new and approved (by the monied elites) politicians are given a crash course on many of the biggest past scandals that were sucessfully covered up in order to indoctrinate these true believers in the system to instictively lie and deceive knowing that they will always be backed by the system? Of course any wild eyed radicals (or even honest persons) elected absolutely must not be so indoctrinated because if they exposed it then then another whole coverup would be required. With large scale screwups such as Walkerton and Elmira (& Grassy Narrows) it's all about managing and minimizing the fallout. With Walkerton the Koebel brothers drinking seemed to be the focus versus municipal and provincial incompetence and negligence. Here in Elmira the story goes that it was all "historical" waste disposal practices that are not tolerated nowadays. More bulls.it on top of bulls.it. All our authorities from municipal and regional councils to the Ontario Ministry of Environment and even the Feds knew what was coming. They knew as they were dumping and burying waste on site that it would spread via ground water, surface water and even air but they hoped that the crisis wouldn't hit until they were long gone. It was all about taking mitigative steps first, all the while lying to the public about how the Elmira wells were safe. It was also all about getting their stories together such that blame never ended up in politicians laps. ............................................................................................................... Literally even dead bodies by the dozens or hundreds in the streets of Tulsa can be covered up. Kidnapping of children under the umbrella of "legal" permission followed by neglect and or murder can be covered up. Canadians and Americans should not be so proud of their so called democracies. Any form of government can be and is perverted by the filth inside the system at the top.