Tuesday, November 30, 2021
CALLING OUT GHD FOR THEIR REFUSAL TO ACCEPT THE PACIFIC RIM LAB REPORTS
I have long been disabused of any mistaken belief that technical consultants owe any kind of duty to the general public. They are hired by polluters (& others) for advice on how to spend the minimum amount of money to achieve the bare minimum cleanup acceptable to the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP). This bare minimum of course is negotiable and I believe that Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess have leveraged the past failures and incompetence of the MOE/MECP to the their maximum benefit. This benefit to corporate polluters also simultaneously corresponds to right wing ideological thinking especially by the Progressive Conservatives albeit also by the Liberals when in power provincially.
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I have very little positive regard for Conestoga Rovers and Assoc. who were bought out by GHD several years back. CRA were far too sucessful in constantly doing "...the cheapest, least effective..." cleanups according to a hydrogeologist from CH2MHILL (on behalf of the Region of Waterloo) decades ago. GHD have also not impressed me although that is of course from their work here in Elmira over the last approximately five years including their fine work in ignoring the obvious problems in and around the Stroh Drain.
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Plausible Deniability Does Not Equal Due Diligence2
Yahoo
/
Sent
........................................
........................................
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Alan Marshall
To:
lou.almeida@ghd.com
,
ramin.ansari@lanxess.com
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Tue., Nov. 30 at 8:51 a.m.
.....................................Nov. 30/21
..................................
.NOTICE OF FAILURE (#5) TO RESPOND APPROPRIATELY
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Party:.............GHD Consultants
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Issue:.............July 23, 2021 Pacific Rim Lab report on dioxin/furans in soil
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Time:............. September 2021 - present
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Details:...........Ongoing self-serving support for Uniroyal Chemical/Lanxess Canada and their inadequate and unsucessful "cleanup" efforts in Elmira, Ontario.
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......................................
GHD were provided the opportunity to receive this professional seven page lab report showing dioxin contamination east of the Lanxess property in an area disputed by Lanxess Canada. This lab report is but one piece of evidence of five showing Uniroyal Chemical specific contamination (DDT, dioxins, NDMA) on the Stroh property which has been provided to both RAC and TAG members. GHD flatly refused to receive this lab report from myself. That behaviour is worse than dereliction of duty and lack of due diligence and may cross into blatant neglect.
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Despite GHD's and other parties failures to request their own personal copies, this lab report has been on-line in its' entirety for nearly three weeks. Again not so much as a request for clarification, discussion or significance of this document.
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News flash for GHD Consultants. You are wedded to Elmira's biggest polluter and eventually may pay the public relations price for everybody's failures Your job is to protect the interest of a multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporation who have externalized their toxic waste disposal costs onto the environment (air, soils, groundwater, surface water), wildlife, and both Elmira and Canagagigue downstream residents.
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Along with this Notice I will be sending GHD an electronic copy of the Pacific Rim Lab report. I will also be posting this Notice on my Blog, the Elmira Advocate.
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Alan Marshall CPAC & EH-Team member
Monday, November 29, 2021
PAST TIME TO CALL OUT THE SCHIZOPHRENIC REGION OF WATERLOO
First off why am I calling them schizophrenic? Well as per my dictionary it refers to one entity having two personalities. On one hand the Region of Waterloo portray themselves as being very socially conscious with ideas of paying a living wage to all employees including those under private contract to third parties. Or maybe not. They apparently help the poor and homeless in the Region with one hand while simultaneously BULLDOZING a tent encampment this last weekend beside Charles St. Then how about their Police Board again apparently rubber stamping a major increase in the police budget while activists are presenting solid evidence for defunding (i.e. reducing) the budget by giving duties and responsibilities for mental health and various social issues to agencies better trained for them than the police. Lastly in today's Record and last Thursday's Woolwich Observer we have a very good Letter To The Editor from Rory Farnan of Citizens For Safe Groundwater asking how the Region can continue their "marketing campaign" to protect groundwater while simultaneously giving their blessing to another new gravel pit, this one in Wilmot Township near Shingletown.
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My conclusion is that there are excellent individual employees within the Region of Waterloo but it's the same old fuddy duddy regional councillors elected over and over again who are right wing, ideologically challenged twits actually in charge. It is regional Council who are the problem while hiding behind a few progressive social policies to give them cover for their entrenched way of doing business i.e. money, power and business first, people and the environment second.
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PLAUSIBLE DENIABILTY DOES NOT EQUAL DUE DILIGENCE
Yahoo
/
Sent
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.......................................................
Alan Marshall
To:
kredman@regionodwaterloo.ca
,
bvrbanovic@regionofwaterloo.ca
,
djaworsky@regionofwaterloo.ca
,
eclarke@regionofwaterloo.ca
,
hjowett@regionofwaterloo.ca
and 8 more...
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Mon., Nov. 29 at 9:33 a.m.
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.........................................................Nov. 29/21
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..................NOTICE OF FAILURE (#4) TO RESPOND APPROPRIATELY
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Party:...... Region of Waterloo Council
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Issue:.......July 23, 2021 Pacific Rim Lab report on dioxin/furans in soil
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Time:........September 2021 - present
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Details:.....Ongoing support/protection for Uniroyal Chemical/Lanxess Canada and their inadequate and unsuccessful
............."cleanup" efforts in Elmira, Ontario.
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...................................
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Regional Council were provided the opportunity to receive this professional seven page lab report showing
dioxin contamination east of the Lanxess property in an area disputed for self-serving reasons by Lanxess Canada.
This lab report is but one piece of evidence of five showing Uniroyal Chemical specific contamination (DDT, dioxins, NDMA)
on the Stroh property which has been provided to both RAC and TAG members. Regional Council refused to receive this
lab report from myself. That behaviour is worse than dereliction of duty and lack of due diligence and may cross into blatant
corruption.
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Despite Regional council's and other parties failures to request their own personal copies, this lab report has been on-line
in its' entirety for two and half weeks. Again not so much as a request for clarification, discussion or significance of this document.
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News flash for regional council.. You may or may not be wedded to our local world class polluters. As per my Elmira Advocate Blog
today I suggest that your social and environmental behaviour is schizophrenic. Your job however is to protect the public interest
not the interest of multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations who have externalized their toxic waste disposal costs onto the
environment (air, soils, groundwater, surface water), wildlife and both Elmira and Canagagigue downstream residents.
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Along with this Notice I will be sending each regional council member an electronic copy of the Pacific Rim Lab report. I will also be
posting this Notice on my Blog.
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Alan Marshall CPAC & EH-Team member
Saturday, November 27, 2021
CALLING OUT THE REMEDIATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE (RAC)
Plausible Deniability Does Not Equal Due Diligence
Yahoo
/
Sent
..............................................................................................
Alan Marshall
To:
smcmillan@woolwich.ca
,
sshantz@woolwich.ca
,
tagchair@woolwich.ca
,
nancydavy@grca.ca
,
ehodgins@regionofwaterloo.ca
and 4 more...
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Sat., Nov. 27 at 9:20 a.m.
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............................................ Nov. 27, 2021
.............................................
NOTICE OF FAILURE (#3) TO RESPOND APPROPRIATELY
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Party:.....Remediation Advisory Committee (RAC)
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Issue:....July 23, 2021 Pacific Rim Lab report on dioxins/furans in soil
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Time:.....September 2021 - present
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Details:..Ongoing support/protection for Uniroyal Chemical/Lanxess Canada and their inadequate and unsuccessful "cleanup" efforts in Elmira, Ontario
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RAC were provided the opportunity to receive this professional seven page lab report showing dioxin contamination east of the Lanxess property in an area disputed by Lanxess Canada. This lab report is but one piece of evidence of five showing Uniroyal Chemical specific contamination (DDT, dioxins, NDMA) on the Stroh property which has been provided to both RAC (likely Oct. 7/21) and TAG members. RAC flatly refused to receive this lab report from myself. That behaviour is worse than dereliction of duty and lack of due diligence and may cross into blatant corruption.
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Despite RAC's and other parties failures to request their own personal copies, this lab report has been on-line in its' entirety for more than two weeks. Again not so much as a request for clarification, discussion or significance of this document.
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News flash for RAC members who appear to have been long wedded to their local polluters. Your job is allegedly to protect the public interest not the interests of multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations who have externalized their toxic waste disposal costs onto the environment (air, soils, groundwater, surface water), wildlife, and both Elmira and Canagagigue Creek downstream residents.
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Along with this Notice I will be sending each RAC member an electronic copy of the Pacific Rim Lab report. I will also be posting this Notice on my Blog, the Elmira Advocate.
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Alan Marshall CPAC & EH-Team member
Friday, November 26, 2021
CALLING OUT THE ONTARIO MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT - PLUS SENDING THEM (Against Their Wishes) A COPY OF THE PACIFIC RIM LAB REPORT
To date I have sent Lanxess and Woolwich Council a copy. I will also be sending the MOE/MECP a copy along with their e-mail callout this morning. TAG are being given an extension to allow the members a chance to give their heads a shake. Tomorrow may or may not be RAC's or the Region's turn.
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Plausible Deniability Does Not Equal Due Diligence
Yahoo
/
Sent
............................................................
Alan Marshall
To:
lubna.i.hussain@ontario.ca
,
jason.rice@ontario.ca
,
nadia.marenco@ontario.ca
,
esther.wearing@ontario.ca
...........................................................................
Fri., Nov. 26 at 10:31 a.m.
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................................................................................Nov. 26/21
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..........................NOTICE OF FAILURE (#2) TO RESPOND APPROPRIATELY
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Party:..MECP: Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation & Parks
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Issue:..July 23, 2021 Pacific Rim Lab Report on dioxins/furans in soil
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Time:..........September 2021 - present
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Details: Ongoing support/protection for Uniroyal Chemical/Lanxess Canada and their inadequate and unsuccessful "cleanup" efforts in Elmira, Ontario.
Sweetheart deals only work when both parties' needs are accommodated. Presumably the MOE's needs included Uniroyal accepting ALL blame for ALL Elmira contamination despite Nutrite, Varnicolor Chemical, Thur and other industrial/commercial groundwater contaminant sources in Elmira. Otherwise the MOE would look even more hopeless and impotent than they are with multiple serious polluters in town. Other MOE failures include DNAPLS off-site to the west and DDT, dioxins off-site to the east. The failures include not stopping the flow, denying the migration and failing to clean it up.
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The Ontario Ministry of Environment were provided the opportunity to receive this professional lab seven page lab report showing dioxin contamination east of the Lanxess property in an area disputed by Lanxess Canada. This lab report is but one piece of evidence of five showing Uniroyal Chemical specific contamination (DDT, dioxins, NDMA) on the Stroh property which has been provided to yourselves, RAC and TAG members. You flatly refused to receive this lab report from myself. That behaviour is worse than deriliction of duty and lack of due diligence and may cross into blatant corruption.
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Despite your and other parties' failures to request their own personal copies, this lab report has been on-line in its' entirety for over two weeks. Again not so much as a request for clarification, discussion or any questions about the significance of this document.
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The MOE/MECP's job is to protect the public interest not the interests of multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations and certainly not to protect their own reputation from allegations of incompetence, intentional underfunding and impotence to do their jobs properly.
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Along with this Notice I am attaching an electronic copy of the Pacific Rim lab report. Shame on you that you have to date refused to receive this report and or to discuss it with me or other honest, concerned citizens. I will be posting this Notice on my Blog, the Elmira Advocate. It is unfortunate that these actions are necessary in order to lessen your plausible deniability and or to force you into doing your jobs properly and in the public interest.
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Alan Marshall CPAC & EH-Team member
Thursday, November 25, 2021
IT'S WOOLWICH COUNCIL'S TURN TO GET CALLED OUT DIRECTLY (by e-mail)
Plausible Deniability does not equal Due Diligence2
Yahoo
/
Sent
................................................................................
Alan Marshall
To:
mmartin@woolwich.ca
,
fredekop@woolwich.ca
,
sshantz@woolwic.ca
,
lshantz@woolwich.ca
,
smcmillan@woolwich.ca
and 1 more...
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....................................................................................Nov. 25/21
............NOTICE OF FAILURE TO RESPOND APPROPRIATELY
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Party: Woolwich Township Council
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Issue: July 23, 2021 Pacific Rim Lab report on dioxin/furans in soil
..............................................................................................
Time: September 2021 - present
.............................................................................................
Details: Ongoing support/protection for Uniroyal Chemical/Lanxess Canada and their inadequate
and unsuccessful “cleanup” efforts in Elmira, Ontario
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Woolwich Council were provided the opportunity to receive this professional seven page lab report showing dioxin contamination east of the Lanxess property in an area disputed by Lanxess Canada. This lab report is but one piece of evidence of five showing Uniroyal Chemical specific contamination (DDT, dioxins, NDMA) on the Stroh property which has been provided to both RAC and TAG members. Council flatly refused to receive this lab report, free of charge, from myself. That behaviour is worse than dereliction of duty and lack of due diligence and may cross into blatant corruption.
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Despite Woolwich Council's and other parties failures to request their own personal copies, this lab report has been on-line in its' entirety for the last two weeks. Again not so much as a request for clarification, discussion or questions of significance of this document.
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News flash for councils wedded to their local polluters. Your job is to protect the public interest not the interests of multi national, multi billion dollar corporations who have externalized their toxic waste disposal costs onto the environment (air, soils, groundwater, surface water), wildlife and both Elmira and Canagagigue downstream residents.
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Along with this Notice I will be sending each Woolwich Council member an electronic copy of the Pacific Rim Lab report. I will also be posting this Notice on my Blog, the Elmira Advocate. It is unfortunate that these actions are necessary in order to lessen Council's plausible deniability and or to force them into doing their jobs properly and in the public interest.
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Alan Marshall CPAC & EH-Team member
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
GUILTY PARTIES, PARTNERS IN POLLUTION, FELLOW TRAVELLORS & OSTRICHES CONTINUE TO BURY THEIR HEADS IN THE CONTAMINATED SANDS OF CANAGAGIGUE CREEK
So absolutely nobody to date has so much as acknowledged the recent (13 days) presence on-line of a professional lab (Soil TEQ-dioxin/furans) report and analysis relevant to the current and ongoing Risk Assessment of the Canagagigue Creek. All parties were asked if they would like a copy of this professional lab report, months ago. All guilty parties except Lanxess said "NO, HELL NO, PLEASE TO GOD NOOOOOOOOO". Oh all right maybe that's more of an accurate synopsis of what they said versus a direct quote.
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I have advised here last Saturday as to what my plan is. Basically it's to dangle a sweet out for all the hypocrites and professional liars including local politicians to either accept in the spirit of honesty, fairness and open mindedness or to frantically demonstrate their single minded fealty and subservience to Lanxess Canada. To date they've all failed horribly to do the right thing. Now I have made clear that this particular lab report only encompasses two soil analyses (out of fifteen soil samples) with the higher soil concentration of dioxins/furans being a composite sample or average of four separate soil samples hence at least some of those four exceed the 4.06 ppt. average result of the composite. As posted here in the recent past that concentration is significant albeit neither damning/smoking gun nor on the other hand insignificant. It is below the criteria of 7 ppt. but well above numerous other dioxin soil concentrations found both on the Lanxess site and nearby.
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This lab report fits in well with the four other even stronger lines of evidence that I've clearly laid out here namely !) topographical contour lines showing ground surface elevations descending from the Lanxess former east side waste pits towards the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm area 2) concentrations of both dioxins and DDT well above all criteria on the Stroh farm immediately beside Lanxess's east side border with the Stroh property 3) NDMA found in a deep aquifer on the Stroh property 240 metres east of the Lanxess east side border with Stroh 4) SEDIMENT Dioxin results found by GHD on behalf of Lanxess in three out of four samples taken from the bottom of the Stroh Drain on both the Stroh and MARTIN property just south of the Stroh property.
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Yes I've just sent Ramin his personal copy of the seven page report. While his obfuscation and manipulation skills certainly are well in line with all the other guilty parties, I believe that he's proven himself much smarter than all the others by immediately agreeing to accept this lab report if and when offerred. His acceptance could be interpreted by the naive or uninformed as a sign of honesty whereas frankly all the other parties look like hicks, twits and idiots. This is a professional lab report done by world class experts in the field and believe me independent citizens such as myself can not just go to our local Elmira supermarket and order up a batch of dioxins, well done, thank you. Where the hell do you geniuses (not) think they came from? Oh right you already know and are terrified because you're all securely on the Lanxess/MECP coverup bandwagon.
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A large part of their panic is about control. They've all been promised for decades that Uniroyal and the MOE/MECP are in total control of all the data, lab results, studies and reports. Nothing and nobody can intrude on the incestuous and self-serving investigations and "cleanup" of the last 32 years. This is why two councils, GRCA, RAC, and the rest of the conspirators have held firm. They think that they are immune from corruption charges. Obviously they forgot how Rich Clausi and I using the APTE Full Aerial Response Team (FART) managed to obtain soil samples, photographs, testimony and much more from the Varnicolor Chemical scandal which implicated the Ministry of Environment (MOE) in their major coverup of the extent of environmental damage done by that company over thirty years.
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First off I'm calling out TAG and specifically their Chair Tiffany Svensson. Yes I understand that you've been between a rock and a hard place since January 2017 when you took over from Dr. Richard Jackson as Chair of TAG. He was honest whereas I don't believe that you have an interest in telling the public the truth. Shame on you. The TAG committee are made up of citizen volunteers and each and every one of them owe their loyalty to the public not to Tiffany, Sandy or God help us the Ontario MOE/MECP. TAG members step up and speak out publicly before it is too late to save your personal credibility and more importantly your souls. Stickhandling the truth or looking the other way is not acceptable. At the very least ask on behalf of TAG for a copy of the Pacific Rim lab report to take under advisement. Anything less damns you to the same level as all the other guilty parties have long ago descended to.
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
PRIVATE DEALS VERSUS PUBLIC CONSULTATION
Sub-Title: CO-OPTED, AMERICAN, ENGLISH MAJOR, NON-ELMIRA RESIDENT HAS FULL CONFIDENCE OF LANXESS, MECP, TAG, RAC, WOOLWICH COUNCIL etc. - WTF
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Uniroyal, Crompton, Chemtura and Lanxess have been in charge of the "cleanup" Agenda here in Elmira for the last thirty-two years. Yes the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE/MECP) have had a seat at the table and occasionally have flexed their baby muscles. Occasionally. Citizens whether members of UPAC or CPAC simply by regular attendance at public meetings or due to formal appointment by a mostly dishonest (environmentally) Woolwich Council have criticized, consulted, researched and raised serious issues for decades. They have not however set Agendas for probably the last 25 years primarily due to a dishonest, former Woolwich councillor working on behalf of the then mayor as well as on behalf of Uniroyal/Chemtura. That was master manipulator, Pat Mclean. She was aided and abetted by her buddy in the sub-title above Susan Bryant. What a pair of behind the scenes sellouts of the public interest.
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Has the control by Uniroyal, Woolwich and the MOE/MECP produced sucess? If you're talking reduced cleanup costs, blame and liability the answer is yes. If you are talking human health, wildlife health or environmental health the answer is no. Various issues have been "hot" issues over the years including DNAPLS, Upper Aquifer Containment & Treatment System, Ammonia Treatment System, DDT & dioxins in the creek ("Gig"), full on-site hydraulic containment, excavation of on-site buried wastes, off-site pumping & treating to remediate the Elmira Aquifers, the Stroh property contamination. All these issues have only gained traction when and if Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess have agreed to them. Gaining traction however often simply means more enhanced manipulation, obfuscation and deception.
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The Elmira Aquifers are decades behind the provincially mandated August 2028 cleanup deadline. The creek (Canagagigue) sediments and soils, benthic community and fish are still full of DDT, dioxins/furans, mercury and PCBs. The off-site pump & treat system is decades behind the agreed upon (1998 & Nov. 2012) pumping rates required to ever do the job even if hydraulic containment on its own ever could. On-site is and forever will be a mess due to the abject failure to remove DNAPL whether free phase or residual. The Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm area plus other off-site contaminated areas will continue discharging to the Canagagigue ("Gig") likely forever.
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One of the finest coverups and scams was the "cleanup" of GP-1 & GP-2 on Uniroyal/Lanxess's south-west corner. Little did we know at the time that GP-1 and GP-2 were red herrings sucessfully intended to hide the volumes of toxic liquid wastes discharged onto the Stroh farm and property. Chemtura/Lanxess etc. falsely claimed that only a small amount on their north-east corner flowed onto the Stroh property. Five different lines of evidence to date have been listed here showing otherwise. We were lied to and told that GP-1 and GP-2 received the vast bulk of overflowing liquid wastes from east side pits RPe 1-5 plus others. Again Uniroyal/Lanxess and the MOE/MECP made these deals privately behind the scenes while simply going through the motions at UPAC, CPAC, RAC & TAG public meetings.
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As I first publicly said and wrote decades ago "The cleanup is a sham".
Monday, November 22, 2021
THE GREAT DNAPL COVERUP - ALL THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Woolwich Councillors, CAO (Brenneman), Chemtura, CPAC, Wilf (?), MOE, Pat & Susan. The basis of the scam was the deflection/distraction of the construction of the Ammonia Treatment System which by the way was never so much as held up for five minutes because of my criticism of one particular off-site well being used to compare hydraulic containment with an on-site well in the south-west corner of the Chemtura property. In fact eventually my criticism was proven accurate by the Environmental Review Tribunal. Monitoring well CH 97 was actually screened in both the shallow Upper Aquifer (UA) as well as in the Municipal Aquifer. This led to inaccurate groundwater elevation readings which falsely indicated that the off-site MU groundwater was at a higher elevation than on-site MU groundwater. This supposed higher off-site readings (CH 97) was caused by the higher elevation of the UA giving higher elevation readings that were improperly attributed to the MU groundwater elevation. Hydrogeologist Wilf Ruland also knew for a fact that I was correct right from the beginning as I showed him various below surface stratigraphic cross-sections which proved that CH 97 was screened in both aquifers. Wilf however likely for political or personal economic reasons decided to throw his lot in with Pat and Susan despite his knowing the hydrogeological truth of the matter.
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This was in the fall of 2007 and unknown to me at that time both Pat and Susan were fully co-opted by the local authorities and powers including the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and Chemtura. By the way DNAPL stands for Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids and refers to heavier than water solvents, mostly but not completely. Examples are chlorobenzene, trichlorophenol, DDT, dioxins and literally dozens of others. DNAPLS are a huge environmental problem both at Uniroyal Chemical/Chemtura and around the world that are difficult to clean up hence they were simply covered up here in Elmira with psuedo science investigations and support from co-opted citizens.
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APTE shares some blame albeit mostly by omission. The members never remotely kept up and instead blindly trusted Sylvia and Susan. APTE were however hardly the only ones who could not sucessfully raise families, have careers and fully learn the hydrogeological issues and facts to stop the junk science and blatant lies from Uniroyal/Chemtura etc. To this day those on and Off-Site DNAPLS have continued to slowly dissolve and increase contaminant concentrations in the Elmira Aquifers. In fact it was determined via the Conceptual Site Model (CSM) that there was about 300 kilograms "excess" chlorobenzene in the Elmira Municipal Aquifers that could not be explained. That likely came from chlorobenzene slowly dissolving into the groundwater from off-site DNAPL including near the Howard St. Water Tower. UPAC and early CPAC members were also sometimes wilfully ignorant and other times simply out of their intellectual depth.
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Regardles all the guilty parties, fellow travellors, ostriches etc. closed ranks especially after Dr. Henry Regier was no longer present in person at public meetings to rein the wrath of God down upon them for their blatant nonsense. Both his loss at these meetings as well as Esther Thur's was critical for the less subtle more blatant rise of Susan and Pat as supporters of the status quo and their local politicians and friends.
Saturday, November 20, 2021
HERE"S THE PLAN REGARDING THE REGION, WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP, LANXESS, MECP, GHD, TAG, RAC, GRCA etc.
All the partners in pollution and assorted other bed partners (i.e. ostriches) have their heads buried in the sand. Lanxess however in an adroit manoever chose to say yes that they would like a copy of the two soil samples (of fifteen) analyzed to date. Therefore despite the fact that the entire seven page report has been publicly available here on-line for the past nine days I feel that Lanxess should get the first copy personally sent to them likely by e-mail. What about the other idjits you say? While all the others said No Thanks very loudly, one does stand out. Scott McMillan the RAC vice-chair and Woolwich Councillor actually thanked me for respecting Woolwich Council's decision not to accept the dioxin/furan soil report produced by Pacific Rim Labs. Wow! I'm not sure how to take that. Was Scott merely trying to be polite and soften the blow in which case I shouldn't verbally punish him as in no good deed goes unpunished or is Scott an incredible idiot who actually thinks that Council has the authority to tell citizens when they can and when they can't provide relevant and important information to Council?
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Then there is the TAG Chair Tiffany Svensson. She actually lost (threw away) my confidence and good will in August 2020. In February of that year I had delivered a formal report/Delegation to TAG which included maps and text regarding the Stroh Drain. Yes Tag (& CPAC) member Dr. Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach was already in the process of attempting to educate his fellow TAG members about the flow of toxic liquid wastes from Uniroyal Chemical onto the Stroh property including further south in and around the north end of the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB). While honest words are powerful I felt that TAG required more and hence I sent them maps of the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm as well as scientific references as to where certain data such as the topographical contour lines originated etc. I heard nothing back from TAG or Tiffany for months until I sent her a letter asking about comments she recently made at a public TAG meeting regarding a private conversation she had with Ramin Ansari of Lanxess Canada.
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Tiffany advised TAG that she and Ramin had made a private agreement not to pursue any further soil (or sediment) sampling on the Stroh property including the exact location which I had addressed and presented to TAG in February 2020. Furthermore she did NOT advise this Elmira citizen of her position or TAG's position regarding my formal presentation to TAG six months earlier. Instead she was silent until I sent her my e-mail asking what was going on when a public Delegation was dealt with quietly and privately and the Delegate invoved (me) was not even given the courtesy of a response or explanation. At that point she attempted to undue the damage to her own credibility but it was far too little, far too late.
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So what do you the readers think? Shall I give all the guilty parties (ostriches) several more days to respond to the on-line Pacific Rim dioxin soil lab reports? Their response could be as little as thanks we've seen the report and will bury it to thanks we will take this report "under advisement". Or they can continue to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that it doesn't exist. In that case I think that I will one at a time perhaps send each of them their own copy with Lanxess first. Will I apologize to any of them for my audacity in sending them relevant dioxin/furan soil sample results from a Lanxess/MECP self-serving contested area (Stroh)? Probably not. I'm "rude" like that.
Friday, November 19, 2021
GEOTHERMAL HEATING & COOLING IS ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
The article in today's Waterloo Region Record is titled "Bedrock aquifer could fuel renewable heating plan". The link is: https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2021/11/19/waterloo-regions-rare-aquafir-structure-an-opportunity-for-renewable-heating-and-cooling.html . Certainly geothermal has been around for a long time and the basic idea while costing more upfront than say a new gas fired furnace is not only far more environmentally friendly but it also costs much less to operate in the long run. Afterall there are no fuel costs as in natural gas although certainly pumps and fans are required whether you have a closed loop or open loop system. The closed loop system consists of buried pipes exchanging heat with the earth in hot summer weather and pumping heat from the earth in cold winter weather.
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The open loop system consists of one or two wells pumping relatively cold groundwater from sub-surface aquifers in the summer to cool our homes and then pumping relatively warmer water from these same aquifers in the winter to warm our homes. Yes if the groundwater is at for example 50 degrees fahrenheit then additional auxiliary heating perhaps by electric baseboards is necessary when the outdoor temperature is below freezing. There is some confusion in this article regarding the "Discovery of rare second aquifer below drinking water ..." nonsense mentioned in the article. My guess is that perhaps Mr. Beatty of Beatty Geothermal Consulting is doing some marketing sales pitch here in order to drum up more local business. The article is suggesting that no one knew that the deeper bedrock aquifer, known to be present in Cambridge, also extended all the way to the north of the region. That is just silly as here in Elmira, at the north end of the Region of Waterloo, the existence of the Bedrock Aquifer has been known for decades. It has been studied, monitored and sampled in regards to contamination from Uniroyal Chemical at least since the early 1990s. Indeed the contaminant NDMA exists in that aquifer along with the other aquifers. Oh and by the way many drinking water wells pull water from the Bedrock Aquifer in Cambridge although fewer do so where there is a sand and gravel aquifer (i.e. municipal aquifer) above the Bedrock.
Thursday, November 18, 2021
NESTLE'S WAS A PROBLEM NOW BLUE TRITON'S THE PROBLEM
The article in today's Waterloo Region Record is titled "Blue Triton keeps Nestle's water-taking permits". Here is the link : https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2021/11/17/blue-triton-keeps-nestls-water-taking-permits.html The Record's current environmental reporter, Leah Gerber, has updated the public in this article and it should come as no surprise that the Ministry of Environment (MECP) have yet again misinformed the public. The MECP (via the Environmental Registry) claim that there were no concerns brought forward by Indigenous communities which Ms. Gerber clearly shows in her article is false.
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Opponents (local & otherwise) to this permit renewal by Triton suggest that Blue Triton should have been forced by the MECP to apply for new more stringent water permits rather than be allowed to simply acquire Nestle's old, less stringent ones. Ahh our Progressive Conservative government love to take with one hand in the name of the public interest while quietly giving right back to industry while ignoring the public interest. Oh and by the way I would love to get my hands on a copy of the so called "studies" undertaken by the MECP that stated that water-taking for bottling did not adversely impact the environment or other users of the aquifer. We now have an entire industry of consultants in all things environmental who will write the most asinine of opinions and disguise them as science and fact. If you've got the coin you simply buy the opinion you want from credentialed experts.
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
INSTEAD OF REFERRING TO THEM AS THE "GUILTY PARTIES" MAYBE I SHOULD JUST CALL THEM THE "OSTRICHES"
Ostriches as in having their heads buried in the sand. Hmm time to Google exactly what that expression means. Did it. Well indeed burying one's head in the sand refers to the alleged behaviour of ostriches who supposedly bury their heads in the sand when they are in danger because they believe that they then can't be seen. The actual expression of "burying one's head in the sand" refers to the behaviour of some people or groups when they see or hear information that is either unpleasant or contradictory to their beliefs/biases. In other words they ignore it and pretend it really isn't there.
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Hmm I think that some anti-vaxxers may be burying their heads in the sand out of ignorance and laziness. Others who have actually done some research may have a legitimate understanding that while vaccines work very well for most there are exceptions and there can be serious negative health effects for the few. Ostriches apparently get a bad rap for their alleged behaviour as Google strongly suggests.
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Going further back is it O.K. to call anybody names i.e. "ostriches"? As a general rule no it's not. However does anybody hold back from calling Adolph Hitler a murdering, racist, piece of crap? How about Asad over in Syria with his torture chambers for his political opponents? He's been referred to as a mass murdering, cowardly dog I'm sure with very little opposition to calling him that. Yes these are pretty extreme examples and no I don't believe that any of the "guilty parties" are remotely as inherently evil as the two extreme examples I've listed. But....
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Would anyone from Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess suggest that their operations in Elmira have not had a human price much less a gross environmental one? Would their air and water emissions over decades, both the "legal" ones and the illegal ones not have caused serious human health effects for some of their employees, downstream (the "Gig") Old Order Mennonites as well as some of the general public in Elmira, Ontario? How long were Elmira residents drinking NDMA from their taps before the Ministry of Environment "discovered" it in the drinking water in November 1989? There is evidence, albeit somewhat sparse, of negative human health effects in and around Elmira. Only someone with their heads buried in the sand would deny that. Similarly only someone with their heads buried in the sand would deny the significance of the Sediment results found in the Stroh Drain by GHD on behalf of Lanxess Canada. Again only groups with their heads buried in the sand would deny the (FIVE) lines of evidence presented formally to RAC & TAG and all their members as well as here in the Elmira Advocate. They include topographical (surface ground elevations) maps, soil samples on the Stroh property by the Lanxess property line, NDMA in deep aquifers 240 metres east of the Stroh/Lanxess property line, sediment samples by GHD in the Stroh Drain and lastly the very recent two soil samples showing dioxin/furan contamination at similar concentrations as those taken in and around Lanxess in the 2017 and 2020 Canagagigue Creek Sediment & Soil Investigations.
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Hence after thirty-two years of advanced bullsh.t from the pack of them I'm O.K. with Guilty Parties = Ostriches.
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
"THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE" : ALL THE GUILTY PARTIES ARE LOOKING AT EACH OTHER
I did actually complement Lanxess Canada (twice) for stepping up like a real responsible corporation. They agreed to accept a copy of the dioxin/furan lab report from Pacific Rim Labs. While there actually are some responsible corporations including one that I know of locally, the reality is that *Responsible Care designations in my mind are the equivalent of "attaboys" handed out to the Syrian dictator/despot (Asad?) for the last three years by the WWVVMDA organization. That is the World Wide Vicious & Violent Murdering Despots Association. In other words it's the left hand of polluters giving themselves (their right hand) an award for best coverups/best public bullsh.t. Now make no mistake Lanxess Canada have earned that award with some truly inspiring obfuscation, avoidance and manipulation. Also they agreed to accept the Pacific Rim Lab dioxin report when literally everybody else ran for cover. All the others wimped out whether the GRCA, Region of Waterloo, Woolwich Township, TAG, RAC, Ministry of Environment (MECP) and GHD.
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So I've decided to give all the guilty parties a second chance. Five days ago I posted here the entire seven page Pacific Rim Lab soil/dioxin report. I've also recently posted here an analysis/comparison of those concentrations of dioxins in soil (i.e. TEQ) with the last two major investigations of the Canagagigue Creek Soils & Sediments (2017, 2020). As limited as the Pacific Rim results are (to date only 2 samples) nevertheless they fit right in with the hundreds of soil results taken in and around the Uniroyal/Lanxess property here in Elmira, Ontario.
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We are fortunate of course to have the example to date of how the guilty parties accept/appreciate scientific results with the relatively recent SEDIMENT results found in the bottom of the Stroh Drain by GHD, consultants to Lanxess Canada. Now perhaps with snow on the ground, dioxin concentrations released last summer may just be too soon for the well versed in Delay, Deny, Watch them Die guilty parties to formally in writing comment on high Sediment results (24.4 ppt/ criteria being .85 ppt). Now of course there have been whimpers of criticism/dismissal by the TAG Chair and a couple of members. Overall however it's been "THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE". Keep in mind these Sediment results are from Lanxess's own consultants and they are way, way above the federal Sediment criteria! Most of the guilty parties appear to be, as normal, simply ignoring scientific results that are inconvenient to Lanxess and the MECP's agenda.
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So how do you think all the guilty idjits will behave regarding Pacific Rim's Soil results (dioxin/furans). So far so much avoidance. Zero comments or feedback from any of them to my posting full results here. Yes they keep an eye on this Blog as per my StatCounter program.
Monday, November 15, 2021
GRASSY NARROWS - YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF "DELAY, DENY WATCH THEM DIE"
Last Tuesday here in the Advocate I posted about how our governments routinely avoid addressing issues with the full knowledge that their disinterest and apathy costs lives. That day (Nov. 9/21) there was an article in the Waterloo Region Record describing the effects of government delays on our military veterans. I also listed a few other obvious examples of similar government inaction done to discourage applications (WCB) as well as to wait out environmental issues as both victims died and contamination migrated and was diluted. The fairly clear plan was to reduce the cleanup costs as well as to reduce any payouts to those whose health was damaged. Once they're gone so are their health care costs.
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The November 6/21 newspaper (K-W Record) carried an article giving us an update on the status of the Grassy Narrows"cleanup". Yes that is the same "cleanup" that our provincial politicians of all stripes have been talking about since the late 1960s. It seems that the Reed paper mill dumped several tons of toxic mercury into the English-Wabigoon river system back then. That mercury is till in the sediments and the fish in the river as well as having been consumed by local indigenous inhabitants. Vaguely similar to Elmira, Ontario where the most affected residents are Old Order Mennonites not keen on using the courts to settle problems/disputes; our native Canadians do not appear to be very high on any politician's priority list. Promises of health centres and compensation to residents has been ongoing for decades. Some funding for actual cleanup has been set aside but once again it is much cheaper to "study" the problem than to actually fix it. Consultants and various experts have made suggestions but according to the author of this article (Darshan Maharaja), as of the last report handed out to the public (March 31, 2020) implementation of remediation plans has yet not started.
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Think about that. The illegal dumping occurred in the 1960s and "cleanup" to date has not removed a single ounce of mercury from the river. What a province we live in if you are wealthy and influential. Otherwise keep your head down and hope for the best.
Saturday, November 13, 2021
AVERAGING & COMPOSITE SAMPLES (TEQ-Dioxins)
The purpose is to cover more geographical area while lowering costs by combining a number of soil samples into one and hence only paying the price for one sample. In the case of dioxin/furan samples the price can be between $850 to $1,000 per sample. Here comes the mathematics of averaging. If four soil samples are combined equally, mixed well and then one sample taken from the composite and analyzed, the resulting concentration will be the average of the four samples if analyzed individually. For example if four soil samples individually had concentrations of dioxin of 8, 3, 4.06 and 1.18 parts per trillion (ppt) their composite average would be the sum of the four concentrations (i.e. 16.24) divided by 4 which equals 4.06 ppt.
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The thing is you end up with only the composite average not the individual concentrations. In all the following possibilities you will see that to have an average concentration of 4.06, the majority of possibilities have some individual concentrations greater than 4.06 and in fact greater than the Ontario criteria of 7 ppt.
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Examples:......................................................................................
3, 3, 3, 7.24.......16.24, 0, 0, 0.......5, 5, 5, 1.24.......2, 2, 2, 10.24.......1.06, 1.06, 1.06, 13.06.......7, 7, 1.24, 1.......
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8, 8, .12, .12.......9, 2.24, 3, 2.......10.15, 2.03, 4.06, 0.......11, 2, 2.24, 1.......6, 6, 3, 1.24......4.24, 7, 2, 3......4, 4.24, 7, 1.......
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The point of all these examples is simply to show that a composite result of 4.06 ppt from four soil samples is a significant result demanding further sampling and analyses. I also yesterday compared this soil sample (composite) result to the soil samples taken in the 2017 and 2020 Canagagigue Creek Soil & Sediment Investigations. As indicated yesterday the 4.06 ppt concentration exceeds 56% of the dioxin/furan concentrations found in the most recent 2020 Creek Investigation and 44% of the dioxin/furan concentrations found in the 2017 Creek Investigation. All of these dioxin results are from areas either on the former Uniroyal Chemical site or in the immediate vicinity. These dioxins especially 2,3,7,8 TCDD are Uniroyal Chemical signature chemicals from the production of Agent Orange for sale to the U.S. military in the American War against Vietnam.
Friday, November 12, 2021
FIFTH LINE OF EVIDENCE OF HEAVY UNIROYAL CONTAMINATION ON STROH/MARTIN PROPERTIES
ALL THAT IS REQUIRED IS A SINGLE LEFT CLICK OF MOUSE TO MAGNIFY THE TABLES & TEXT BELOW:
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Remember that there are four other stronger lines of evidence. This to date is merely number five. RAC/TAG and all the other guilty parties have the information in writing regarding five lines of evidence.
Thursday, November 11, 2021
IN ITS' ENTIRETY - TO DATE ONLY HOWEVER
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The higher dioxin/furan concentration (BC) is from a composite sample. i.e. four separate soil samples namely location B at six-9 inches, location B at 12-18 inches, location C at six-9 inches and location C at 12-15 inches. 4.06 parts per trillion is the average of four separate soil samples which with a little mathematical work indicates the very great likelihood that at least one (possibly 2) of the soil samples exceeded the 7 parts per trillion (ppt) soil criteria. There are thirteen still outstanding soil samples awaiting analysis. What do you think the odds are that several of those may exceed the dioxin/furan criteria by a very substantial amount?
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
BOTH GOOD AND BAD REGARDING TAG PROCESS
I've mentioned before that sending 551 page e-mails to volunteers whether TAG members or others is just plain horsesh.t. The e-mail in question is the "Draft Risk Assessment-Canagagigue Creek, Elmira, Ontario" otherwise known as the Problem Formulation document. Volunteers by their nature do not receive pay for their time and effort both in attending meetings and hopefully in reading the relevant reports ahead of time. So why exactly should volunteers also be expected to maintain computer printers at home in order to download neverending technical reports? Direct costs include toners, new drums and paper. Not to mention once again the time involved in printing out a 551 page report. If you aren't going to provide volunteers with hard copies of these reports, perhaps upon request, then you might just as well advise these volunteers that public consultation is all for show .
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Currently I am at page 108 of the 551 page report. That is 108 pages downloaded which includes text and a few Figures. Lots to go. The first paragraph was the bad, here is the good. Although the original e-mail link disappeared after maybe a month or less, Lisa Schaefer, Woolwich Township employee has sent me on request the link again. She did this quickly with a single ask from me and this time it's good until November 19/21 before it mysteriously disappears again. WHY? Is there some weird security concerns by either Lanxess or GHD? Or is there some cost involved with keeping the report on-line and constantly accessible? Or is this just more of the whole bogus public consultation process? If cost is the problem then golly gee, giving out hard copies on request might just solve that issue. Afterall let's keep very clear here who is responsible for the environmental disaster i.e. NOT the volunteers!
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The contents of the report stink but that's not unusual nor unexpected. A few days back I posted here about some of the technical nonsense in the report to date. Likely more will emerge. Meanwhile I can advise the public that this whole bogus issue of huge reports NOT being handed out in hard copy when requested was resolved years ago. Volunteer citizens publicly tore strips off of Uniroyal/Crompton & Chemtura when they dared try this sh.t. Times have changed. Clearly the guilty parties no longer worry about even the most blatant insults or disrespect of volunteer citizens working on behalf of their community. Our local councils and politicians just enjoy the quiet.
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
"DELAY, DENY, WATCH THEM DIE"
This is in particular reference to government behaviour in four different areas namely Benefits for injured veterans, negotiating with indigenous Canadians on land claims, Workman's Compensation Board (WCB) benefits and lastly environmental remediation including right here in Elmira. I'm sure that there are lots of other examples of how our alleged "democratic" governments treat their citizens. The quote in the title above is from a story (pg. A.8) in today's Waterloo Region Record describing the backlog in assessing veterans' applications for benefits based upon various injuries sustained while serving their countries. It is disgraceful and unconscionable and truly shows the hypocrisy of our federal government regarding veterans. There is a second story on page A.3 regarding land claims litigation/negotiations between the federal government and the Six Nations of the Grand River. Some of these legal actions are merely twenty-six years old and others go back to 1985 and are thirty-six years old and not completed. Also what exactly does that say about our judicial system? Hmm, how about incompetent, complacent, racist and biased in favour of the party (government) that is in absolutely no hurry to end anything on their watch.
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After the award winning series in the Record about the failures of our local Workmans' Compensation Board (WCB) in assessing and awarding damages to victims of K-W's rubber industry, it is very clear that the quote in the title applies here as well. After all the longer the WCB delays, the fewer living victims are left looking for appropriate compensation after working in toxic environments that our provincial government's are supposed to regulating for health and safety issues.
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Finally we have a toxic creek (Canagagigue) and groundwater in Elmira, Ontario courtesy of Uniroyal Chemical, the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP), and local and provincial politicians (i.e. "local" - Regional councils, municipal councils (Woolwich)). The first and most significant study by the Ontario Water Resources Commission was in 1966. Other major and minor studies have been conducted since (1995-96, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2020) all indicating toxic conditions in multiple media (soil, sediments, fish tissues etc.) by multiple toxic compounds including mercury, PCBs, DDT, DDD, DDE, dioxins/furans, lindane and other herbicides and pesticides. The good news is that by delaying for five or six decades not only has a significant amount of the contamination moved downstream well past the current Study Area but there are now a plethora of studies and results that the guilty parties who have always been in control of them and of so called "remediation" can pick and choose from. It's called Risk Assessment and I and other informed individuals find it to be mostly a form of professional "greenwashing".
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The first rule for polluters in Ontario is: TOTALLY CONTROL THE PROCESS IN ORDER TO CONTROL THE TIMING, THE RESULTS, THE CLEANUP, THE COSTS AND THE PUBLIC
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P.S. Of course in Elmira just like the other examples the Delay and Deny has resulted in Watching Them Die whether from cancers, auto immune diseases, old age, or many other diseases exacerbated by toxic chemicals. Thank you Sandy, Ken, Lanxess, MECP and so many others deserving of negative recognition.
Monday, November 8, 2021
HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING: A HOW TO MANUAL FOR ACTIVISTS TO TAKE SOIL SAMPLES REFUSED BY AUTHORITIES
1. Find a dirty polluter
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2. Pinpoint on a map where soil samples have been taken
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3. Look carefully where there are zero soil samples taken
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4. Look for both known and unknown contaminant pathways such as surface flow, ground water flow and even far flung burial sites
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5. Read all reports possible and again note both obvious areas and contaminant pathways that are ignored and unsampled
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6. Take soil samples
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If only it was that easy. Scouting ahead of time is required. Consultation with experts regarding methodology, containers, depths, accredited labs, costs, storage and transportation of samples are all necessary. Timing is important. Timing of day, location of sun, weather etc. Decades ago I took photographs of gross sub-surface contamination of soils and groundwater at the back of the former Breslube (now Safety-Kleen) site in Breslau. I did this despite ongoing remediation (excavations) plus staff being present. How was this possible? Timing. I walked in from the natural area behind (i.e. west side) the plant late in the afternoon with the bright summer sun directly at my back. No one was looking directly into the sun and even if they did they could see nothing. Yes the photographs went to the appropriate authorities and were ignored.
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7. Look for corridors that can cover your entrance and exit into secret, contaminated lands
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8. If possible have an alternate exit pathway in case you are spotted either going in or while sampling
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9. Understand that liars lie. It's what they do because it works as long as the authorities are in their pockets. Your lab results will be disputed because after all if the authorities were going to insist upon proper environmental remediation in the first place then those samples would have been ordered taken and analyzed literally years and decdaes previously.
GOOD LUCK!
Saturday, November 6, 2021
PROBLEM FORMULATION DOCUMENT FOR THE RISK ASSESSMENT FOR THE CANAGAGIGUE CREEK (HHERA)
This document is 551 pages long and was sent by e-mail. Ten to thirty years ago I and others would have been screaming at the assho.es in charge if they had dared to pull that kind of shi. Today it's the norm because the numbers of honest, pissed off citizens holding Uniroyal Chemical's feet to the fire are gone. It gets worse of course. The link with the report on it disappears/expires? after a few weeks so if you haven't downloaded it, it is gone. Or I suppose you could fill up your personal computer with it and every other report.
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Basically this report is an excuse for delay. Chemical after chemical discovered in creek sediments in 1995-96 are now allegedly at lower concentrations and as such the 95-96 concentrations are dismissed as "historical" and no longer relevant. I wonder if they were relevant to the lifeforms downstream, including humans, whose health sufferred from them? Neither Lanxess today nor the Ministry of Environment care. They know that these toxins in either suspended sediments or sediments in the bottom of the creek are constantly moving downstream via normal flow as well as during heavier storms and floods. As production of DDT and Agent Orange (2,4-D & 2,4,5-T) has stopped, these particular compounds eventually have to have all migrated off site, into the creek and then downstream.
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Benzo.a.perylene, Endrin, Aldrin, chlordane, lindane, heptachlor expoxide and more were all present in high concentrations at one time but apparently are harder to find now. I say apparently because no informed and honest people believe a word coming out of the mouths of the company, their consultants or the Ministry (MOE/MECP). So called "background" levels are also part of the scam.I've known and stated for thirty years that using the Canagagigue Creek waters immediately above the Uniroyal site is absolute bullsh.t. There is way too much pollution already in the creek from both Bolender Park Landfill (with Uniroyal wastes in it) as well as from other upstream industries.
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Other chemicals removed from the status of COPC (contaminants of potential concern) include toluene, aniline, NDEA, BHEP, copper and yes PCBs. Lots of PCBs allegedly at one time in the creek. Where are they from? Allegedly they are not from Uniroyal/Lanxess which is all that it takes apparently to remove them from the COPC list. There were 64 detections of them in creek sediments in 1995-96. Ten of those detections exceeded the sediment criteria with the largest concentration exceeding the criteria by thirteen times. Wow! However the good news for downstream residents and creek users is that PCBs and their extreme toxicity whether still present or not have been removed from the COPC list which means that they will not be considered as part of either the Ecological Risk Assessment or the Human Health Risk Assessment. I mean would it be fair to include these obvious health dangers to nearby residents in a Lanxess Risk Assessment? Then regardless of who is the source (my bet is still Uniroyal) Lanxess would have to be part of the cleanup/remediation solution. Oh gosh how unfair to our local but WORLD CLASS POLLUTER. Whatever we do we must not alienate or upset them and lose a bit of taxbase and or employment. Once again let the citizens suffer from the sins of industry. This is always best achieved by the polluter and fellow travellors being in full control of all the reports, documents and citizens permitted to speak and sit at so called public meetings.
Friday, November 5, 2021
APPARENTLY TEACHER BULLYING OF STUDENTS CONTINUES AT THE WATERLOO REGION DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD (WRDSB)
In an unrelated case in today's Waterloo Region Record we are advised that "Sexual assault is a crime that cannot be dealt with privately within the ranks of an institution because we can't trust institutions to put the victim before its own reputation.". This was written by Thom Ernst in an article titled "We can no longer shelter sexual abuse in a culture of silence" and referenced the current Kyle Beach scandal involving the National Hockey League (NHL). Mr. Ernst's "institution" is the NHL. The other institution and its reputation that falls within the last part of the quote in the second line is the Waterloo Region District School Board.
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So what has changed? Just about everything! The "Me Too" movement and the "Black Lives Matter" movement are front and centre. For far too long bullies at all levels have been enabled from within their organizations. Whether it was male officers bullying and harassing lower ranked and lesser numbered female police officers within the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) or even the recent case (2017-2021) in Cambridge where a Waterloo Regional police officer harassed and assaulted a Black woman returning from dropping her son off at work. Of course the senior idiots at WRPS still deny race was a factor but lets be honest, bullies carefully pick victims they think less likely to raise a stink afterwards.
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Speaking of senior idiots at the WRPS, for far too long they have been the lap dogs of senior administration at the WRDSB. All the school board had to do was yell for a cop any time they the Board were up against a parent they couldn't shove around. The Board essentially used the police as their enforcers when the Board's lying and manipulation were ineffective in a dispute with parents. Immediately behind the police in this job were our local courts. Assho.es like the Dishonourable Justice Robert Reilly enforced civil actions against parents who once again were vulnerable due to financial constraints that the Board and or teachers' union did not have.
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Such a combination of cowards and bullies closing ranks to protect their reputations when the facts did not support their lies. The WRDSB got a partial comeuppance with the Ron Archer scandal in the late 1990s and early 2000-2001 unfortunately after I and my family were put through the financial and emotional wringer by those same gutless wonders (WRDSB). Regarding police don't get me wrong it wasn't individual cops who were the issue, it was the filth at the top (WRPS) paying homage to the filth at the top of the WRDSB.
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But things have changed. While I feel for the parents of the five year olds bound and left in a darkened room at Alpine Public School, they need to understand something. The bullying teacher was incredibly stupid. She might have gotten away with doing that to financially strapped white children and their families but doing it to black or brown kids was the height of stupidity in today's social climate. Cowards and bullies are sneaky but at the lower levels not always smart. That teacher is 52 years old and if she thought that discipline was O.K. then likely she had pulled that or similar crap before. Yes in the past the WRDSB would smile and cheerfully lie to parents with comments such as "Oh no, this teacher has an excellent record with many commenmdations in it." Or is it still in the past?
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Both teachers and police officers are human and hence like all of us make mistakes. Historically the big difference was that they had immense protection from their employers who found it easier to squelch women, blacks, minorities in general and modest income children and parents than to honestly address their problem employees. Ron Archer preyed upon white children, boys and girls for two decades before being charged, arrested and imprisoned. All the while the WRDSB enabled his disgusting behaviour rather than admit they employed a pedophile. And for most of that time our police and courts did little or nothing to protect citizens and children in educational settings. Times have changed. Victims and their families are now being believed when they relate institutional abuse. Bullies and cowards will be looking for different victims until their employers seriously weed them out from public bodies.
Thursday, November 4, 2021
FILTH IN CHARGE OF ELMIRA CLEANUP UNDETERRED BY MINOR DISSENT FROM SOME TAG MEMBERS
A few TAG members have been speaking gentle truth to power recently. Rather than confronting those in charge and all their political fellow travellors with understandable allegations of either lying or intentional obtuseness, instead these TAG members have held forth the undeniable truth that Lanxess, GHD and the MECP (Min. of Environment) have failed to sample soils (especially) and sediments appropriately on the Stroh property on the east side of Lanxess Canada (formerly Uniroyal Chemical). Make no mistake Woolwich Township are totally in control of TAG membership and likely either before or after the next municipal election (Oct. 2022) will weed out the problem TAG members. These members if they persist in speaking even polite, respectful truth to Lanxess/GHD/MECP are problem members by Woolwich standards. Can you imagine if either I or Dr. Richard Jackson were back on the public consultation committee? Directness and bluntness are abhorred by professional liars who can barely tolerate even the mildest criticism.
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Look carefully at the GHD "2020 Canagagigue Creek Sediment & Soil Investigation" results in the Stroh Drain. Firstly no one including Lanxess have given even a remotely sensible explanation for dioxins/furans well above criteria found in the sediments of the SDDB (Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm). Secondly no one including Lanxess and Tiffany Svensson (TAG Chair) have given even a remotely sensible explanation as to why as promised, soils were sampled in four other creeks discharging into the Canagagigue Creek ( 3 west side discharge, 1 eastside) but no soil samples allegedly were taken from the Stroh Drain/Martin Creek discharging into the east side of the Canagagigue Creek. This is much like the failures to properly take soil samples in the "Gap" area between Lanxess and Stroh property. Blatant sampling biases in order to deceive. By the way the four creeks discharging into the Canagagigue Creek which did have soil samples taken are allegedly "Unknown" (Larch's Creek), Bolender Landfill Creek, Shirt Factory Creek and (First St.) Landfill Creek. Three of these creeks are beside former Landfills and the fourth (Larch's Creek) has strange 45 gallon barrels poking out of and beside the creek which to this day have not been removed. Bizarre as to how stupid our local elected councillors really are.
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Past coverups on the Uniroyal site include the failure to abide by the 1990? Ministry Control Order demanding complete hydraulic containment of all aquifers on site. The Upper Aquifer containment system consisted of 1/4 of the site albeit in the heavily contaminated south-west corner. The DNAPL coverup went on for many years if not a couple of decades from 1993 until 2008 when I got bounced from CPAC because of the DNAPL coverup under the guise of my opposition to parts of the Ammonia Treatment System. Thank you Susan Bryant and Pat McLean for your support of Chemtura, MOE and Woolwich Council to the detriment of the truth and the public interest. Of course the entire east side discharge of toxic wastes both to the Canagagigue Creek and to the Stroh and Martin farms was also a major coverup as was the existence of a flowing Drain immediately beside the Uniroyal/Lanxess property line with the Stroh property. At the moment the plain refusal to test soils in and around the north end of the Stroh Drain is obvious corruption/deceit to everyone including TAG thanks to the efforts of myself and Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach. I will say that Sebastian is much better at playing the game with the professional liars than I am. He will never call them either filth or professional liars which gives him a much longer lifespan as an appointed member of an inherently corrupt municipal public consultation body.
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Sucessful lying, deceit and corruption breeds more of the same. Hence I am confident that there are many other examples some of which we may never learn.
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
MORE POSITIVE REGARDING TAG'S EFFORTS
Below is a copy of the e-mail I sent TAG members last Monday, November 1/21. Recently I have become more aware of the difficult circumstances in which some TAG members are volunteering their time.
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TAG members: I sent an e-mail to Ramin yesterday once again congratulating him for being the only individual or party to step up and say yes he would like a copy of the seven page Pacific Rim lab analyses (TEQ-dioxins/furans) of two soil samples taken where no individual to date allegedly has gone before and taken soil samples. The remaining thirteen soil samples remain in appropriate cold storage for analysis. No animals, human or otherwise, were harmed in the taking of these samples allegedly from a "sink" of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) including 2,3,7,8 TCDD originating from the former production of Agent Orange on the Uniroyal Chemical site. Likely DDT, DDD, DDE, lindane, endosulfan and more POPs are also present. While many parties are very happy with deafening silence on these soil samples, TAG members representing the PUBLIC interest should not be.
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My congratulations to TAG members who spoke out last Thursday evening and asked if there was a data gap on the Stroh property. I believe this included Wilson, Linda, Sebastian , Dustin and possibly one more. I would also like to advise TAG that I sent the letter to Ramin (& Jason/Lubna MECP) on to both Woolwich and Regional Councillors not out of any expectation whatsoever that they would do their due diligence but simply to leave "...a trail of breadcrumbs for future investigators/researchers to follow." I also somewhat undiplomatically advised both groups of politicians that I expect nothing from any of them which to date exceeds their past efforts. Hey thirty-two years of mostly hydrogeological psuedo science and junk science mixed in with blatant refusals to do proper soil and groundwater cleanups has resulted in public admissions that the 2028 deadline for cleanup is currently unobtainable. Under that time frame please grant me a little right to vent.
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Ending I hope on a more positive note let me suggest that you continue to insist on common sense soil, ground and surface water sampling in locations which affect the downstream Canagagigue Creek ("Gig"). This includes north of Shirt Factory Creek (NW) to see if partial cleanups there were successful, Bolender Landfill Creek, Landfill Creek discharging both Varnicolor Lot 91 compounds as well as First St. Landfill compounds and finally the Stroh and Martin farms in and around the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm. By the way there is at least one more past (hopefully) major source north-west of Church St. and the Bolender Park Landfill that has never been publicly admitted or scrutinized and which affected groundwater and so called "background" levels in the "Gig". Don't you find it odd that allegedly Uniroyal/Lanxess are hydraulically contained and yet the Region of Waterloo have fully written off the Elmira wellfields for at least the next thirty years or more even after thirty years of "remediation"?
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Alan Marshall
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
HISTORY - MECAC: SUCH A PACK OF LIARS
Woolwich Observer article in late October 2015 and also an October 29, 2015 article in the K-W Record. The sub headline in the Observer stated that Mayor Shantz's errors were trivial. What a pack of B/S from a pack of former or wanna be politicians looking out for their own. Yes they are right about one thing and that is the understanding that any and all corruption charges or legal problems for politicians reflect on the rest. That is because most of them are dishonest, practiced liars who long ago understood that with most citizens they can "explain away" almost anything. It was Donald Trump who once famously stated that he could commit murder in broad daylight in Times Square and a jury of his peers would not convict him. Wow! Well a jury of Sandy's peers (dishonest, bull sh.t artists) decided that contrary to all evidence that her "errors" were minor. That decision should shame all prospective future appointees to MECAC as the group are simply one more phony attempt at democratic transparency and accountability. May all the MECAC members spend an eternity contemplating their dishonesty and contempt for the public interest.
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To this day Mayor Shantz has not provided all her election expenses to the courts as ordered by Justice David Broad in his conditional reinstatement of Sandy to the mayor's position. Hence any and all financially capable individuals who oppose any of pretend mayor Shantz's decisions over the last seven years can have them reversed simply by taking her to court for failing to abide by the conditions demanded by Justice David Broad (July 2015) of Ontario Superior Court in Kitchener. Wouldn't that be an enormous rebuke and statement of corruption by MECAC, Sandy, Woolwich Observer? and other blind and deaf supporters of the pretend mayor. Maybe that is exactly what Woolwich Township politics has been desperately in need of for the last few decades.
Monday, November 1, 2021
CONTINUED "POKING THE BEAR" NECESSARY WHEN TRUE EFFECTIVE PUBLIC CONSULTATION DOESN"T EXIST
I mean seriously would you allow a person on trial to unilaterally pick (or buy) their own jurors? Would you permit a charged drunken driver to insist that only active alcoholics be permitted on his jury? Then how is it possible that we allow all the guilty parties in Elmira, Ontario to be fully in charge of the cleanup and public consultation regarding the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis? It is nuts!
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I have recently sent communications to Lanxess, MECP, Woolwich Township, Region of Waterloo and lastly to TAG. The first four might be interpreted as a little snarky however the last one to TAG was not. It congratulated four or five members for suggesting or asking whether there were data gaps on the Stroh property. Of course there are but whether or not TAG's concerns will 1) get to RAC 2) be ignored by RAC 3) never get past RAC to Lanxess/MECP is anybody's guess.
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I mentioned (last Saturday?) Eric Hodgin's (RMOW) concerns regarding Stantec Engineering relying heavily on input from GHD (Lanxess's consultants). I wonder if TAG make an attempt to filter some of the information coming from both Lanxess and GHD. I believe that they do although it isn't always easy. My e-mails to Woolwich and Regional Councils indicated that I had zero expectations of either of them doing either the right thing or their due diligence as so called guardians of the public interest. Why after thirty-two years of manipulation, prevarication, subterfuge and worse behaviour from all the guilty parties should I be polite to professional liars? Even their public consultation has devolved to professionals in their field albeit donating their time however with little to no understanding of what has gone on over the previous thirty-two years and more!They are in the position of starting from scratch and thus handing proven professional manipulaters a clean slate to do what they do best which is not to seek truth or accuracy.
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I have given both Lanxess and politicians something to think about. Maybe they are dumb enough or overconfident enough to think that I am bluffing.
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