KEN REGER PASSED LAST SATURDAY

The Obituary in today's K-w record advises that Ken was in his 90th year. Ken was very well known in and around Elmira for his advocacy regarding re-establishing bluebirds into the surrounding area. He built and monitored hundreds of nest boxes in Woolwich and Wellington Townships. Ken also worked for a number of years at Uniroyal Chemical where he was a steamfitter. For me Ken's claim to fame was his advocacy and testimony at the Environmental Appeal Board hearings held in Elmira in the very early 1990s. I also was priveleged over the years to occasionally talk to Ken on the phone for environmental advice regarding Uniroyal's successor corporations (Crompton, Chemtura etc.). ............................................................................................................ I have quoted Ken in my book (Amazon/Kindle) titled "Elmira Water Woes: The Triumph of Corruption, Deceit and Citizen Betrayal". I quoted Ken from articles in the Elmira Independent and K-W Record in which he was quoted speaking at the Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) hearings in Elmira. Ken's testimony was factual, to the point and first hand. He spoke to the results of chemical contamination in the pelts and bodies of muskrats and other animals that he trapped in and around the Canagagigue Creek. He also spoke to the barrels placed on top of each other (9 barrels deep) that were buried at the south end of the former municipal landfill (M-2) on the Uniroyal property. These barrels of chemicals were unearthed during the 1965 excavations to build the Elmirs Sewage Treatment Plant. To this day I believe that his testimony carried more weight and credibility than anything any of the "suits" and other professionals had to say at the hearing. To this day Ken's first hand testimony can still be used to refute both MOE/MECP and Lanxess Canada historic horse manure that they still try to peddle.