IN YOUR FACE & POLITICAL CORRECTNESS BACKLASH

 O.K. this is a tough one to both elucidate and write about. For me that is. Here goes. Yesterday I was talking to a gentleman I've known for close to thirty years. We chat briefly perhaps three times a year and I thought I had a handle on his opinions, politics etc. Well I was wrong. 

Surprisingly to me his position regarding Councillor Murray Martin's words from his council seat was that not only should Murray have freedom of speech but that many citizens/voters clearly share them as shown graphically every four years when he gets re-elected. Secondly two people much closer to me, one a relative and one a friend have advised me that they strongly feel that the public backlash against Murray's opinions on the gay community as well as the 2SLGBTQ is wrong. Well!

Here's where I stand. I disagree with Murray Martin on many things and over at least a couple of decades my opinion has formed that he is bigoted, dogmatic and disrespectful to those he views as different from him and supposedly the norm. Accurate or not Murray is entitled to his opinion even when he is wrong and especially when to my knowledge he has never advocated for violence or physical harm to those he disapproves of. Yes I understand that his disapproval whether as an individual or as an elected official can be harmful to some people. 

What I am being told is that like minded people to Murray in regards to the 2SLGBTQ community really don't like the issue being in their faces whether rainbow crosswalks or politicians constantly jumping on the bandwagon and lecturing or hectoring them about being out of date, out of step, anachronistic etc. They also don't like the media and politicians across Canada leaping on the issue and calling Murray homophobic plus a lot of other names. I'm not saying that he isn't homophobic but I guess what I am saying is that for gosh sakes campaign against him between now and October 24/22 (municipal election). Also feel free to either publicly or privately disagree with his opinions but maybe, just maybe I am coming around to feel that the media, politicians and the public hammering him in writing is too much and unnecessary. I also am beginning to wonder if there is a real backlash against political correctness in all its' forms including embracing the 2SLGBTQ community to the point of promoting their visibility and orientation. I'm not certain on this last point but it is something to think about.

HISTORY LESSON: 2016 Cartoon In The Observer

 The cartoon is from the January 7, 2016 edition of the Woolwich Observer. Basically it shows a bulletin board behind Sandy Shantz showing about fifteen different headlines from the previous year dealing with various Woolwich Township political scandals. In the foreground Sandy is advising that they would like 2016 to be much quieter. Unfortunately that didn't really happen as I was so disgusted with the biased, Mickey Mouse "investigation" by MECAC (Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee) that I took the matter to court in Kitchener. One of the cases involving I believe Scot Hahn while not prosecuted at least the prosecutor made the legitimacy of the citizen's complaint (moi) very clear. Unfortunately that did not occur with the other case (Sandy Shantz). An out-of-town idiot...oops sorry an out of town prosecutor (Fraser Kelly) dishonestly advised  the court that the case did not have merit. Oh my I looked carefully and not only had Sandy admitted SOME of her many errors but the Municipal Elections Act (MEA) nowhere suggested that it's commands were somehow optional or that some of the demands of the Act were less significant than others and could thus be ignored.

What is the lesson learned? Easy it's one that smart people have known for a long time namely that the law is an ass and it is not applied equally to everyone. 

THE NIGHT IS DARKEST JUST BEFORE THE DAWN

 O.K. I suspect that I've misstated that old adage in the title above. Hopefully readers all understand what I'm trying to say. Right now the forces of greed, dishonesty, political correctness, puffery, and self-benefit are in total control. That does not mean that I've given up trying to shine a light on the abject failures that our political leaders are hell bent to defend. All authorities including political ones know that they will stay in charge as long as the populace think everything is under control. I'm really not sure how the populace can possibly believe that between the population bomb (Paul Erlich 1960s) and Climate Change. While climate change/global warming are appropriately front and centre nevertheless the ever growing world population combined with demands on a limited food supply, shrinking farmland due to residential and gravel pit development and constantly increasing discharges of human sewage into our waterways; continues to slowly overwhelm our technology and the overstated and relied upon so called natural attenuation of our waterways.

The paragraph above while written with Waterloo Region and Woolwich Township in mind actually is a microcosm of the entire world. We need to stop asking our wealthy political and business leaders and well connected families how we are doing and instead ask families who will never live in their own homes, who depend on food banks, whose jobs and work are totally insecure both from economic vagaries as well as from employer biases and abusive power. We also need to speak to citizens from third world countries and again not those in charge and in power. Their worlds are insulated from the worst realities of overpopulation and climate change. Money can buy just about everything including justice and to a point health. Their mantra is the status quo and look where that is getting the majority of people in the world. 

Drastic change is required simply because there has not been enough ongoing change to the realities of overpopulation, pollution, climate change etc. To date our political systems whether democratic or not have failed the entire world. Management and governance have been primarily for show and appearance. Yes to a certain degree citizens have failed by not being involved and informed adequately. They have focused on their jobs and their families which is hard to criticize.

Here in Elmira, Ontario we have been misled, obfuscated to and "managed" by self-serving corporations and politicians. Lanxess, GHD and the Ontario Ministry of Environment are in bed together to maintain the facade and myth that the former Uniroyal Chemical property and pollution from it has been both stopped and cleaned up. It has not, not by a long shot. They are winning the battle in their sale of this alleged "truth". But it's not over. Just one possibility for a turnaround is the factory's almost innate ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with yet another fire, explosion and toxic fugitive emissions. While I believe that significant steps may have been taken to minimize the inevitable from a chemical factory, I also believe that they have a history of more talk than real action. The next one could be the big one and after that there could well be real oversight and demands for improvement and cleanup that can' not be so easily smothered and hidden.   

THANK YOU VERY MUCH MURRAY MARTIN

 I know that you've had a very hard week. I've had those and much worse when doing the right thing so my sympathy for Murray is somewhat tempered. In fact after years of, in my opinion, doing more damage than good on Woolwich Council, I believe that Murray's recent and ongoing tribulations will actually improve governance up here in dogpatch. Now despite that slam at Woolwich Township I will add that I love living in a slower paced, fewer people, less traffic environment. While I still visit Kitchener and Waterloo regularly I never enjoy the drive and in my life I've driven millions of miles whether professionally for hire or privately.   

To my amazement the Waterloo Region Record has had something about Murray's alleged homophobia for four days running including today! WOW! Today it is their Editorial titled "Put a rainbow crossing in Woolwich". Now while I have continued to refer to Murray's behaviour as "alleged" homophobia many others have been less kind. Frankly there probably are reasons not to install a rainbow crosswalk including expense, however Murray's words were ill chosen in light of current thinking. Maybe we should not forget that there was a time in my lifetime and Murray's when public attitudes regarding homosexuality were  nearly universally negative. No this does not justify Murray's attitudes and word choice but may explain them. 

Regarding thanking Murray and suggesting his verbal behaviour could improve governance in Woolwich let me remind readers of how bad governance here impacts Elmira, Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge at a minimum. We have occasionally had some good municipal councillors over the last fifty to seventy years. Perhaps as high as 10% to 15%. Maybe. That works out to less than one good councillor per Woolwich council for most of the last seventy years (five councillors then, six now) . We've also had a plethora of stinkers. By stinkers I am not necessarily suggesting bad to the bone, mean, petty, biased and self-serving. I'm suggesting that they were induced to run for Council to help protect the status quo. In other words to keep the currently privileged local people in that position including at the public expense. Some of them were smart and knew what they were doing wasn't right and others didn't.

How has bad governance here affected the three cities south of us? Via allowing, enabling, and justifying gross liquid pollution discharges from Uniroyal Chemical into the Canagagigue Creek from 1943 until 1970. They didn't stop then or even yet but they have been slowly reduced such that the volume of moderately polluted water upstream in the Creek dilutes the remaining nasty stuff still flowing off-site. Or at least dilutes those toxins which dissolve in the water. The Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) migrate from the site attached to soil particles and become both suspended sediments in the Creek as well as deposits in the bottom and along the creekbanks. These highly toxic sediments are still present and move up the food chain from organisms burrowing in the bottom of the Creek to fish, birds and animals. They also flow downriver through Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge and further where they also accumulate in human beings. There have been lots of scientific studies proving the existence of dioxins/furans, DDT, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, PAHs, PCBs and mercury in the Canagagigue Creek.  What there hasn't been is any downstream cleanup of the mess made by Uniroyal Chemical and cheerfully talked about for decades by successor corporate bodies (Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess). Quoting local resident Richard Clausi "When all was said and done, more was said than was done.". Maybe new blood on Council including Mayor will help turn that around. 

 

WOW - IS THIS PILING ON OR IS THIS APPROPRIATE OUTRAGE?

 Just since yesterday's post here the public outcry and media attention have increased dramatically. Public outcry and media attention regarding Woolwich Councillor Murray Martin's alleged homophobic comments that is. Spoiler alert: I don't like Murray and haven't for years. Therefore while I may revel in his public criticism and comeupance, honesty makes me cringe a little. Here's why: since yesterday's post here about Murray the Woolwich Observer have chimed in on the issue. Let's see firstly with a front page story and photo of Murray Secondly with an Editorial by the Observer about Murray's recent behaviour. Thirdly with a cartoon about Murray's alleged homophobia. Oh and none of these have been the least complimentary or sympathetic to Murray.  Now this morning I believe for the third day in a row the Waterloo Region Record are also still attacking. This includes Murray's written apology for his own behaviour to CBC News as well as an opinion piece by Luisa D'Amato. Wow! 

Now quite frankly I'm a little surprised by Murray's apology. While apologies are generally a good idea when you've said or done something reasonably stupid, they rarely play well with a politician's support base. Imagine if Donald Trump were to publicly apologize for his lies regarding the Presidential election or for his inciting the mob to attack the seat of U.S. government. Many of us would have an ounce of respect for Donald for doing that whereas his support base of yahoos, zealots, common but misinformed citizens would be appalled. They'd feel that he was abandoning their loyalty and would abandon him. The same goes for Murray. A bunch of semi idiots have been re-electing him over and over again. Some of them likely are homophobic whether for religious reasons or otherwise. Others may like Murray specifically because he isn't politically correct.

I found Louisa's opinion piece strong and she explained why. From memory I believe that she may also have shown a little sympathy for Murray's plight while making it clear that the 2SLGBTQ community have been victimized for decades if not actually centuries. My conclusion to the question above in the title is that all this media coverage is indeed piling on. Yes Murray walked into it with his gums blazing. 

Why are the media piling on? The municipal election is two months away. One it increases newspaper sales and radio listeners. Two all the other politicians  are more than happy to jump on board and be quoted for their own self-serving benefit i.e. the election is two months away. Three Woolwich Township during the (mayor) Sandy Shantz two terms have been publicly exposed  as corrupt, stupid, and abusive over the last seven or eight years. This includes Todd Cowan's relatively minor conviction, Sandy, Mark Bauman and Scot Hahn's goofs, intentional and otherwise, on filing honest and straightforward Election Financial Statements and Woolwich Council's idiocy several years back in trying to censor myself and Dr. Dan Holt as Delegates to Council. The media won't stick their neck out but will jump on board when others do and several of us up here in Woolwich have not been happy with our governance for a very long time.

For all these reasons I believe that the media and others are piling on councillor Murray Martin. I guess my question is where has our media been for so many other equally and more important scandals? I believe that our Old Order Mennonite families living and farming along the Canagagigue Creek have been abandoned by both the public and our elected authorities for the last half century. I believe that Murray Martin should have been brought to account for his rudeness and disrespect many years ago. I believe that Sandy Shantz and Mark Bauman together should have been held accountable for their manufactured CPAC "crisis" of 2015 as well as lies told in writing about CPAC members in the April 9, 2015 document written on Township letterhead. Where were all the critics then? Yes Murray you are being picked on right now but based upon your long history on Woolwich Council I am hard pressed to feel any more than a smidgen of sympathy for you. There I too am being a little harsh. My bad. 

COULD MURRAY'S BEHAVIOUR/ATTITUDES AFFECT RE-ELECTION OF OTHER WOOLWICH COUNCILLORS?

 First of all it's clearly an election year. I've been told that there are comments on Facebook plus today the Waterloo Region Record has both another article regarding Murray's alleged homophobic attitudes plus there is a Letter to the Editor from a lady hammering both Murray and Mayor Sandy Shantz. We know that councillors Larry Shantz (distantly related to Sandy Shantz) and Scott McMillan won't be back as they did not register as candidates. I had been told that both Fred Redekop and Murray Martin also weren't planning on running. Well that fizzled out in the last two days before the August 19 deadline. Dang I was thinking that we were going to have a real housecleaning similar to the one we had in 2010. It could still happen. I was also told that incumbent Sandy was not planning to run until she saw that Patrick Merlihan was running for Mayor. Hmm interesting that.

Murray despite being re-elected numerous times has been an embarrassment on Woolwich Council almost forever and not just  the few times he has been investigated or reprimanded by the Integrity Commissioner. I actually thought that that had only occurred once or twice at the most, contrary to the Letter To The Editor suggesting three times. Hard to keep track. I've seen and heard his strange comments while sitting on Council for a very long time and marvelled as to where his constituents were while he was doing that. 

Councillors have pretty much unanimously condemned his most recent behaviour. Fair enough as they are smart enough to understand that society's negative attitudes towards gays have changed whereas Murray's have not. Could Murray's comments drag himself, Sandy and Fred down in the October 24 municipal elections? Hard to say. The electorate are fickle and they only turned their backs on Murray once before. 

  

MURRAY, MURRAY, MURRAY -WOOLWICH COUNCILLOR YET AGAIN SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE FOOT

Old fashioned, out of touch, politically incorrect - take your choice they all apply to Woolwich Councillor Murray Martin. How either old or old fashioned is Murray? Well I'm 73 in two months and he's got at least a few years on me. But I digress. Murray has a history of shooting from the lip and generally he doesn't shoot very straight. His targets have included environmental activists, activists, formal Delegates to Woolwich Council and more. He's been known to reference "those people" and or "people like that ". What exactly his thought processes may be can be unclear but generally if he doesn't care for you or your opinion he's not shy to make that clear. Oh and all the less than vague firearms metaphors ("shooting from the lip", "targets", etc.) are my feeble attempt to ignore political correctness these days.  

Murray far exceeds my  lack of political correctness. Perhaps he doesn't care (which is fine) but I suspect that he just doesn't understand the background and the issues.  If he had stopped at saying the rainbow is a gift from God he would have been O.K. But not Murray. In today's Waterloo Region Record Murray is quoted by reporter Paige Desmond allegedly making homophobic comments. He made the following comments not only at a public Council meeting (Monday) but at a televised one! Is he really as dumb as I think or is he dumb like a fox? Could he understand that he is an underdog and be hoping to stir up votes against the politically correct inclusion of all, whether LGBTQ or whomever?

Here are some of Murray's quotes regarding the suggestion that a Rainbow crosswalk be installed in Elmira namely "It's not fitting with the values of this community.". Also the rainbow is a gift from God "and we trash it to promote a lifestyle that is not correct. That's why I do not think that it is proper." . So readers I leave it to you to decide if Councillor Martin's comments were homophobic. Some of his colleagues on Council believe it was. Mayor Sandy Shantz disagreed with Murray's opinions from two days ago but defended his right to his own opinion. On later persuasion she apologized and regretted not stopping Councillor' Murray Martin's comments in mid stream. The municipal election is October 24, 2022.    

HAS LANXESS & MECP QUIT ON THE ELMIRA CLEANUP?

It is seriously looking that way. I have been posting about both the decreased off-site pumping slowing down an already decades late cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers as well as about the on-site (Lanxess) decreased and below Target Rate pumping levels. By failing to maintain the on-site municipal pumping at PW4 and PW5, hydraulic containment is weakened and contaminants can flow off site and enter the rest of the Elmira Aquifers. In theory at least the two fold approach of on and off site pumping of groundwater was supposed to lead to drinking water standards being achieved in the Elmira Aquifers by 2028. All parties fudged about that for decades but have finally admitted to their failures for about the last five years. 

The July Progress Report has been released and it is more of the same with both on-site pumping wells pumping below the GHD consultants recommended pumping rates. This has been going on for many months and essentially means that on site groundwater contamination is flowing off-site making the delayed cleanup of the  aquifers even later. The off-site pumping at the moment is actually not too bad which tends to exacerbate the pull off-site of the reduced on-site groundwater pumping. This off-site pumping while still inadequate based on past promises nevertheless is as high as it's ever been at just over 70 litres per second for all the off-site pumping wells. The result is Uniroyal and successors (Lanxess) yet again transferring cleanup costs to the public purse as they are paying 100% of their on-site pumping costs but only 50% of their off-site pumping costs. What a great scam for them.

FURTHER INFO ON PROPOSED NEW GRAVEL PIT OUTSIDE PETERSBURG

 I posted an initial article about this proposed gravel pit last Thursday here in the Advocate. Today's newspaper carries an excellent article by Paige Desmond titled "Petersburg residents prepare to fight proposed gravel pit". This proposed gravel pit would be the SEVENTH in the neighbourhood on Snyder's Road. Neighbours are interviewed and they state that they already have a long history of dust, noise and odour issues from the other gravel pits. One more with homes across the street, south of the property and a business to the west of the property is just too much.

The new pit would extract gravel as well as crushing it on site. Furthermore asphalt and concrete recycling would also occur. Currently the property is zoned agricultural but the proponent would like that changed to extractive industrial. Local concerns certainly appear justified regarding noise, dust and odours affecting health (diesel fumes) . There are also appropriate concerns regarding both local water supply and quality despite claims that it would be an above water table gravel pit. Removing nature's filters (sand & gravel) helps degrade water quality. Also pits that have started as above ground pits are easily amended at a later date into below ground water table gravel pits. All in all I can understand residents saying enough is enough. There are ample gravel pits right now to supply all gravel needs. More are not needed ane likely won't be for many years. 

SMEAR CAMPAIGNS WORK BEST WHEN DONE SURREPTICIOUSLY

 This post is only partially addressed to my troll, Barry. He is indeed a hypocrite, uninformed, biased and impaired physically and I expect mentally as well. He likes to comment rudely on my posts but does so from a position of ignorance. He neither reads local writeups (Observer/K-W Record) of TAG or RAC meetings nor does he attend either virtually or in person. He has never attended so much as a single meeting yet feels that he is an "expert" much like other experts proclaimed by Lanxess, GHD and even the MECP.

Part of the conspiracy ongoing by our world class polluter and corporate successors has included puffing up certain selected individuals as representatives of the public interest. In the early days we all thought that was a sign of respect for the grass roots citizen group APTE. We were wrong. That public support and access given to a couple of individuals was self-serving albeit over the long haul. It turned out that a couple of citizens with great manipulative skills slowly weaned several members out of APTE whom they felt were unlikely to be manipulated into giving concessions and making private, inappropriate deals with Uniroyal Chemical. 

This conspiracy included local supportive politicians more focused on alleged future employment and taxes than on the immediate or long term health of individuals. Hence they too were all to willing to both support the chosen two as well as undermine any and all citizens who had strong opinions based upon deep and significant study of technical reports, attendance at public meetings and just plain common sense. This common sense included looking at the big picture and the immediate willingness of Uniroyal and their consultants to gild the lily, minimize the contamination and maximize the alleged benefits of consistently choosing the cheapest, least effective remediation methods. Some of us at least realized how blatant the obfuscation was and how unwilling the Ministry of Environment or any other authorities were to confront the company over their dishonesty regarding the cleanup. 

For the co-opted, confrontation is not good. They needed for their personal benefit to at least pretend that the polluter could be persuaded through communication and discussion. They needed to buttress the fantasy that the polluter via "moral suasion" was amenable to real public consultation when in fact the last thirty years of UPAC, CPAC, RAC & TAG has been simply window dressing and greenwashing. A couple of times when the public en masse has been sufficiently outraged they the public have pushed the company into doing a little more. The many good folks at UPAC, CPAC, TAG have not.  The in the know, self-serving folks, the polluter and local and provincial politicians have had their way. Both puffing up as well as behind the back smearing continue to this day. The difference between my criticism and theirs is that I do mine up front and put my name to it. I am neither anonymous nor yellow backstabbers like them.    

LAST SECOND CANDIDATES COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK

 Gad but I am disgusted. Fred Redekop is a busy man and by most accounts a good one. That said I didn't see much effort from him during the last four years. That is my opinion although mine is not the only one. Also I understand that he has a full time job into the bargain probably explaining some of his absences. For Murray Martin however I make no excuses. His behaviour, opinions and overall lack of serious effort in understanding issues has upset me for many years. I personally have heard him denigrate serious concerns brought properly and appropriately to Council via Delegations.  He has also the dubious distinction of being one of the few (or only) Woolwich councillors formally sanctioned for his snotty and biased behaviour towards a citizen Delegation. Wow! New candidates waiting for the last minute to register I can better understand but for incumbents like Murray and Fred I just find that ridiculous. If they are that complacent about running and representing us then please don't bother at all. If on the other hand their very late in the day registration as a candidate is some sort of gamesmanship then again please don't waste our time or the other candidates. We don't need that kind of crap on our Council.

Ward 1 currently has four candidates for two positions. Ward 2 has two candidates for one position. Ward three has four as well for two positions. Our public school board actually has five candidates for one position and I was wrong nine days ago when I thought that Fred Meissner was the hubby of Karen Meissner who is not running. He I am told is her father. My congratulations as of this morning to Woolwich Councillors Larry Shantz and Scott McMillan for not running and apparently (as of now) sticking to that.

YET ANOTHER GRAVEL PIT BEING PROPOSED

 And this folks is just one more example of the never ending growth and "development" i.e. exploitation of our natural, non-renewable resources. Sand and gravel are nature's groundwater filters. Every tonne removed from the subsurface is like death by a thousand cuts. It just keeps on getting worse until in this case the natural environment is past the point of survival. Noise, dust, diesel fumes, and the blight on the beauty of our living area in southern Ontario just keeps on happening. The groundwater entering our creeks and rivers mostly ends up eventually into the Grand River on its' way to Lake Erie. Yet we obfuscate and deceive our citizens as the quality of that groundwater deteriorates because of a multitude of sins year after year. Eventually the Region of Waterloo will be drinking polluted Lake Erie water. Polluted because of our failures to stop the ongoing environmental damage caused by constant growth. Optimistic for future generations I am not.

The proposed new gravel pit is located near Petersburg in Wilmot Township. This is just a few months after Wilmot Council voted unanimously against the proposed Hallman Pit in their jurisdiction. That proposed pit is now before the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) which I do not view as good news. While I don't believe that the OLT have as yet achieved the infamy of the former OMB (Ontario Municipal Board) which constantly upheld gravel pits and were obviously pro growth and development, nevertheless the pro development pressures from the province under the Conservatives are intense.

This latest gravel pit proposal is located just east of Petersburg and fronts on Snyder's Road.  

MORE STUDIES & MORE RED HERRINGS TO JUSTIFY NO CLEANUP OF THE CANAGAGIGUE CREEK

 How many studies/investigations generally all confirming what we have known since Rachel Carson advised us in "Silent Spring" (1962) do we need? Three more have been presented to Lanxess by the Ontario Ministry of Environment indicating that DDT and its metabolytes persist in soil for many decades and move up the food chain (i.e. bioaccumulate). These published post graduate studies while helpful are of little use if their conclusions are misinterpreted, minimized or generally ignored. Furthermore at some point all the studies/investigations/reports relative to the HHERA (Human Health & Ecological Risk Assessment) over the last five to ten years become nothing more than a voluminous and weighty cudgel for Lanxess and GHD to hide behind. See they say: "We've done our due diligence. We've studied the risks. You can't argue with science. If you do we will smack you in the back of the head with all these reports that we have either bought and paid for or have reviewed." Of course they have long ago failed to embrace or acknowledge the "precautionary principle" which suggests that when there is scientific evidence raising doubt about future environmental and human safety, then precaution is paramount. 

The corporate principle however carries more weight for Lanxess and friends. It states that when there is scientific evidence raising doubt about future environmental and human safety, then in order to protect the  income stream of investors and share holders, all means necessary will be employed. These means may be legal or not. They most certainly are highly unlikely to be moral or ethical but apparently along with dishonesty are protected by our courts and judicial system. Afterall corporations buy lobbyists for a reason. It's a lot easier to have loophole riddled laws put in place by sympathetic politicians than it is to hide blatant contraventions of the law.

The most recent additions to the plethora of alleged "scientific" study by CRA and GHD include a tiny bit more of soil sampling and a tiny bit of earthworm collection sampling for DDT. Twenty years ago some on-site earthworms were found to have high levels of dioxin/furans in them. Hardly surprising. Also those high levels move up the food chain to robins, shrews, voles etc. and then further up the food chain to hawks, owls, coyotes and more. They didn't force Uniroyal/Chemtura to do more on-site cleanup then and however bad these most recent sample results are they too will not force greater cleanup. Lanxess are firmly in control of the process from start to finish and everything else is all for show and appearances. Everybody involved (i.e. alleged stakeholders) just want this process to end and to do so as expeditiously and inexpensively as possible. Let the wildlife suffer and the same with the twenty-two farm families living and farming along the Creek downstream from Uniroyal/Lanxess. Our authorities have known since the 1950s how much damage Uniroyal Chemical was doing and every step of the way they have collaborated with Uniroyal and corporate successors to minimize cleanup costs and deny the truth to the public.

  

"THE ELMIRA CLEANUP IS A SHAM"

 I first put the title above on a sign on the roof of my car in front of the former Arena/Rec Centre on Snyder Ave. in Elmira way back in the late 1990s. Little did I know then exactly how accurate I was. After 2013 and the announcement by the Region of Waterloo that they had absolutely no plans to use the Elmira Aquifers again for drinking water, I did consider the possibility that the incentive for both Uniroyal/Chemtura and the Ministry of Environment to follow through on promises to restore the aquifers to drinking water standards had just died. Well it certainly has turned out that way. Off-site pumping (i.e. the Off-site aquifers) has been inadequate by the pumping rates we (CPAC) were promised way back in November 2012 . Just no where near the amount of pumping that we were promised. Now it's gotten even worse.

Last month (June) the On-Site pumping rate with a Target Rate of 4.7 litres per second was again short of the mark. At my fingertips I have the on-site pumping results for eight of the last ten months. They range from a high of 4.6 litres per second to a low of 3.5 l/sec.(twice). As per the monthly Progress Reports "GHD recommends that Lanxess maintain the target pumping rates greater than or equal to these rates." Now half of these months have also had reduced off-site pumping rates. The good news is that when on-site pumping is reduced or inhibited then lower than targeted off-site pumping will lessen the amount of "leakage" i.e. contaminated on-site groundwater migrating to the off Lanxess site aquifers i.e. the Elmira Aquifers. To make matters worse however last month (June) had one of the highest rates of off-site pumping we've had which exacerbates the quantity of on-site contaminated water migrating to the off-site aquifers and requiring treatment. Put plainly the groundwater cleanup is NOT adequate and all the bullsh*t, excuses and obfuscation in the world will not fix it.    

OH MY BUT THE WRDSB SEEM TO LOVE MESSING UP PUBLICLY

 Who am I kidding with that title above? Like every other institution, government body, political party etc. it's all about keeping ahead of scandals and defusing them quickly if at all possible. The Waterloo Region District School Board are no exception.  How else do you think they covered up for Ron Archer, pedophile in their ranks for so long? There have been others since but none with as much publicity and shock value. Similar to the stunning revelations in the first few years of the Elmira Water Crisis (1989) there have been other local environmental disasters but they have been kept well under wraps. Whether this entails inappropriate "sweetheart" deals with some local media or not I do not know. Hence I believe that our police (Ha!), courts, hospitals, schools despite never ending screwups have learned what to say and what not to say. They've learned who to schmooz, who to avoid and who to bribe. 

For example we did have some more publicity regarding former police officer Angie Rivers back in the spring. She was testifying before a Board (Human Rights?) regarding her nasty treatment by the Waterloo Regional Police. Nothing at all since. Why not? There have been numerous other female officers briefly in the news fighting sexist and discriminating behaviour by the Waterloo Regional Police. Kelley Donovan wrote a book titled "Systemic Misfeasance in Ontario Policing and the Coordinated Suppression of Whistleblowers". It was an excellent well researched book. What has changed? The class action lawsuit by many female police officers was dismissed by our local courts. More "home cooking"? Similarly our school board (WRDSB) messed up last January with Caroline Burjowski, now a retired teacher. A couple of articles in the last two months and that's it. Why? What is happening?  Out of sight or hearing (newspaper, radio, T.V.) means out of mind. This always favours the transgressors. There was and is the trustee Mike Ramsay affair by the WRDSB. Little or nothing currently in the media. The latest WRDSB scandal is in today's Waterloo Region Record however. How long will the issue continue without proper resolution? Likely for years. This scandal is in regards to the personal information and data of retired and current teachers being hacked. That is serious. And on and on. The Northstar Aerospace in Cambridge "resolution" has not received the attention it and its' victims deserve. Nor has the decades to half century plus Grassy Narrows environmental disaster been fully resolved.

If there is but one thing that our local institutions do at a world class level it is their control of the message. Have they reached sweetheart arrangements with local media offering them perpetual communications access in exchange for moderation? Have they molded libel laws to their liking ensuring a permanent libel chill by the media/ How have they succeeded? Of course all the money they spend is not their own personal money. I believe that we would all be shocked by how much of our tax dollars going to these institutions goes to legal advice to be used against us. Isn't that disgusting?  

WHERE IS THE URGENCY?

 I keep asking myself that question. It clearly isn't at TAG or RAC and it sure as hell isn't with the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP). Let's look clearly at where we are thirty-two years after the south wellfield (E7, E9) was shut down in November 1989. Both the south and north wellfields are still shut down and all Elmira water comes from a pipeline to Waterloo. The latest estimates for the possible use of our local municipal aquifers (MU & ML) is 2050 or 2060. The Region of Waterloo announced many years ago (possibly at CPAC in 2013) that they no longer were even considering the Elmira Aquifers as even a possible source of drinking water in the forseeable future. That was a shock at the time as Eric Hodgins of the Region made the announcement at a public CPAC meeting. Meanwhile our grossly contaminated, by Uniroyal Chemical, Canagagigue Creek has improved since both 1970 and since 1998 after the construction of the Elmira Sewage Treatment Plant and the Upper Aquifer Containment & Treatment System respectively. When almost everything is dead and only the most pollution tolerant organisms can live in the Creek, major improvements are possible albeit the Creek is still a toxic mess albeit less by dissolved pollutants in the water and more by Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) that are somewhat hydrophobic and preferentially attach to soils and sediments. Lifeforms in the Creek sediments are consumed by fish and other small predators and they move up the food chain. This includes human beings eating the fish plus additional exposures. The former Uniroyal Chemical site is still a toxic mess and likely will remain that way for many more decades or even centuries without serious remediation. 

Could it be that some of the relatively young professionals on TAG fully know and accept that reality? Is that why they continually express their disappointment over on-site containment losses in the Upper Aquifer to the Creek and even recently months of failures for the two on-site pumping wells (PW4 & PW5) which are not achieving the Target pumping rates mandated to keep the dissolved contaminants in the Municipal Upper and Lower Aquifers on site and out of the rest of the Elmira Aquifers. This is unacceptable when the company and MECP are present and allegedly dealing with RAC and TAG. How bad will it be when the company eventually pack their bags and go to greener (i.e. even less oversight) pastures? Where is the outrage by local citizens and residents?

On top of that we have the so called Risk Assessment of the Canagagigue Creek and Lanxess to date are insisting that despite hundreds of soil and sediment samples in excess of criteria just for dioxins/furans and DDT, not to mention the plethora of other contaminants conveniently being removed from consideration as Contaminants of Potential Concern, that the risk to human beings is acceptable. They currently are insisting that no remediation is necessary other than where the Creek flows through their property. They are however keeping TAG members and the MECP playing their game by advising that they will do a little more sampling in the two Reaches  (3 & 4) of the Creek nearest their site (i.e. Reach 4).

Nearly thirty-three years later and we have cosmetic and minor improvements only throughout Elmira and downstream. We were promised the Cadillac cleanup by Uniroyal Chemical way back in 1990 and later. We've received the absolute minimum and the long compromised Ministry of Environment have followed orders from the Ontario government not to spend the time and money necessary to force the recalcitrant polluter and corporate successors to restore our natural environment to even a fraction of what it was. Is literally everybody involved in the "cleanup" part of the sham and public relations slogan that "Polluter Pays" in Ontario?  Young children in 1989 are now the next generation involved in so called public consultation allegedly to monitor and supervise the cleanup. They appear to have no fire in their bellies for a fight. Environmental careers can be made or possibly broken  on the back of this public spectacle . That is why local non professionals with institutional memory are also needed  but other than co-optees they have been intentionally excluded and discriminated against by "our" authorities. Until or unless numerous members of the public step up yet again we will never see the appropriate cleanup of our groundwater, surface water, air and soils.

SYNOPSIS OF A SHORT TAG MEETING LAST EVENING

 Firstly it appears as if the sole reliance on virtual meetings may be coming to an end. Allegedly the proposed RAC (Remediation Advisory Committee) meeting tentatively scheduled for September 29/22 may be both in person and virtual. Presumably the next TAG (Technical Advisory Group) meeting will be a s well.  

Agenda Item 3. is New Business...and Item 3.1 is Written Submissions Review. TAG Chair Tiffany Svensson was very polite and in fact courteous when she thanked me for submitting my written Delegation strongly criticizing what has passed for a Risk Assessment of the Canagagigue Creek. While her courtesy is always appreciated, the failure and I term it as that, for TAG to discuss, agree or disagree  with a written submission by a regular attending, far more knowledgeable and experienced than most of them, local citizen is highly unfortunate. Unfortunate for them not for me. By so doing they are giving history and posterity the clear message that these written submissions by the public are mere tokenism. Yes we already all know that however appearances are everything and frankly I wonder if maybe some of them fully understand that and are O.K. with subtly highlighting it? Just a thought.

TAG and CPAC member Sebastian again raised  the issue of the Risk Asessment (RA) being voluntary and not subject to Ontario regulation 153. Tiffany and others sort of explained the reason for this. Susan Bryant (TAG) in discussing Agenda Item 4.1 agreed with most of the Min. of Environment's (MECP) comments and concerns regarding the Draft RA. She pointed out that Lanxess (Ramin) have claimed that they want the community's concerns to be satisfied by the RA. Of course as they have obfuscated, deceived and manipulated the RA from the beginning it's hard for me to put any weight whatsoever in Lanxess's (Ramin's) statement.  

There was some discussion as to where and when the next steps of the RA will occur. Discussion suggested that the earliest that the further sampling, whether sediments or earthworms, will have results available for discussion will be in the first quarter of 2023. The beat goes on.

Linda (TAG) had a written report available for TAG regarding the June Progress Report. Oh by the way Linda, David H. and Dustin M. all were absent last evening meaning there was no quorum. Over the years this has often happened whether CPAC or TAG and it has been difficult for me not to smirk about it because the decade plus that I was a formal member, I was utterly reliable in attending. Apparently that is of less significance when the meetings are primarily for show not for actual improvements in cleanup.

Linda's submitted report indicated ongoing failures in on-site (Lanxess/Uniroyal) municipal upper aquifer pumping. Sebastian queried this and asked Tiffany when that would cause a loss of hydraulic containment and off-site flow of contamination to the rest of the Elmira Aquifers. In my opinion Tiffany's answer minimized and understated the likelihood of that happe4ning despite six months of below Target pumping from pumping wells PW4 and PW5.

Allegedly all TAG coorespondence is on the Woolwich Township website including my submissions. Hmm I'm skeptical however I will take a look.  

A+ FOR EFFORT & FOR NEWSWORTHINESS (K-W RECORD) - C FOR ACCURACY

 Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following story by Paige Desmond titled "Local activists seek election in the townships". Ms. Desmond has indeed hit the mark with her article describing three activists who have thrown their hat into the political ring. Steph Goertz is a member of Citizens for Safe Groundwater who oppose the proposed Hallman gravel pit in Wilmot Township. Bonnie Bryant is a member of Hopewell Creek Ratepayers' Assoc. and they are opposing the proposed Shantz Station Gravel Pit just outside the village of Maryhill. Finally we have Dr. Dan Holt who is a current member of the Lanxess Citizens' Advisory Panel (CAP) and the former Chair of CPAC when it was known as the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee. CPAC currently stands for Citizens Public Advisory Committee and Dr. Dan is still the Chair of it. 

My sincerest wish is that all three get elected come the October municipal elections. That said there are a few significant errors in Ms. Desmond's description of Dr. Holt and of Elmira's poisoned groundwater. These could have been readily fact checked . While her errors should not be placed upon Dr. Dan Holt nevertheless they contribute to those who denigrate newspapers as sources of accurate information. I will say that over the years Ms. Desmond's facts have been very good.

WOOLWICH MUNICIPAL CANDIDATES ARE EMERGING

 Still two candidates for Mayor namely Patrick Merlihan and Sandy Shantz. I voted for Sandy way back in 2014 but have not made that mistake since. Four candidates are running for Trustee and they include I'm guessing the incumbent's husband but not the incumbent Karen Meissner. Weird??? There are three candidates for two positions in Ward 1 although I am only knowledgeable about the one, Dr. Dan Holt. He is an excellent, experienced and knowledgeable candidate and community volunteer. There is one candidate for Ward 2 and that is Eric Schwindt whom I believe is reasonably (and positively) well known in the community. Finally there are currently two candidates for two positions in Ward 3 which includes former and excellent councillor Bonnie Bryant.

I am generally thrilled that we are having what appears to be a major turnaround on Woolwich Council. It is overdue. There is excellent potential with some new, talented and keen citizens on Council. 

MORE ON THURSDAY'S TAG MEETING

 Looking firstly at the previous month's Minutes (i.e. June 23/22) I notice two items. Firstly Lanxess for some weird reason are not mandated to include carbon dioxide emissions (C02) in their Annual Environmental Report. TAG were concerned and commented upon that because C02 is a major component of greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming and climate change.

Secondly the rollover by Woolwich Township on the Hawkridge Homes subdivision across the street from Lanxess and Sulco may partially have been occasioned by new train operations across the street. Horns blaring in the middle of the night are a safety measure that can not be changed however by 2023 both companies must be compliant with train shunting noise. Interesting. 

Again Stantec, hired by Lanxess, claim that "...from a risk assessment perspective, it is acceptable to leave these "hotspots" in place." This is in reference to at least three known "hotspots" downstream from the Lanxess property (i.e. New Jerusalem Rd., Northfield Dr. and Jigs Hollow Rd.). Clearly TAG, CPAC and all informed and honest citizens no longer care for answers starting with "...from a risk assessment perspective...". Thank you Lanxess, GHD and Stantec for showing Woolwich, TAG and the world exactly how accurate, significant and biased Risk Assessments can be in the wrong hands. I am not yet ready to say that all Risk assessments are garbage but here in Elmira, Ontario they are batting 0 for 2. 

LYING BY POLITICIANS IS NOT ILLEGAL

 Isn't that interesting? It doesn't matter what the issue is whether life or death, health related (Covid etc.), environmental, government spending, legal or political it's all up to individual politicians and what they believe they can get away with. I believe it was Donald trump who famously said that he could commit murder in broad daylight in Times square and a jury would never convict him. Wow! More recently I've been told by a Woolwich councillor that the "Declarations of Pecuniary Interest" at the start of Council meetings as well as the start of Committees of Council are entirely voluntary by the participants i.e. no one is checking on them and no one will call individuals on likely false declarations. Well CPAC certainly  found that out when we sent Woolwich Council in 2017 witness statements from multiple Woolwich citizens indicating that two TAG members were in serious conflict of interest positions. Woolwich Council members did nothing.

Apparently communication and responses by politicians are also strictly voluntary. An elected politician isn't even required to simply acknowledge that a citizen sent them either information for their own use or sent them a request for information or any simple question. That said I believe that many politicians actually do try to respond even if it's merely acknowledgement or even canned, partisan bologna. A quick update on my sending out information/opinion on the Canagagigue Creek Risk Assessment (RA) last Wednesday gives the same result. Zero additional simple acknowledgements from MECP, Region of Waterloo, TAG, Woolwich Council. It may be legal but that doesn't make it either acceptable or appropriate. 

WOOLWICH LOCAL POLITICS APPEAR IN FLUX

 Yes there are some incumbents running in this October's municipal election. To date however the following have not filed their Nomination papers namely Scott McMillan, Murray Martin, Larry Shantz, Fred Redekop and trustee Karen Meissner. Our incumbent trustee (WRDSB) Karen Meissner may be having second thoughts after the public mess that the current trustees including herself have caused regarding both trustee Mike Ramsay and teacher Caroline Burjowski. It is now very late in the day.

There are two candidates for Mayor namely incumbent Sandy Shantz who apparently really isn't that interested in the job anymore and Patrick Merlihan. There are currently three names registered for the trustee position. There are two names registered for Ward 3 with past councillor Bonnie Bryant being one of them. I am very happy to see her throw her hat back into the ring. Ward 2 has one nomination namely Eric Schwindt who has run in the past unsuceesfully against former councillor Mark Bauman. I know that Mr. Schwindt is very keen. Ward 1 to date has but one nomination and it is not an incumbent.This is a bit of a surprise. My understanding is that Larry Shantz and Murray Martin have publicly stated that they are not running but I have no idea what's going on with Scott McMillan. Time will very soon tell.

WRDSB, MECP, LANXESS ARE ESSENTIALLY UNACCOUNTABLE

 In today's Waterloo Region Record Steven Lecce, Ontario Education Minister, advises that he won't intervene in the Mike Ramsay affair. Why would he? Just because the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) are once again flexing their power and usually unopposed authority to silence a many time elected trustee apparently doesn't upset Minister Lecce. That being the case certainly he and the provincial government, who allegedly have the final say on education matters, sure as heck aren't going to step in and level the playing field regarding the related Caroline Burjowski situation either. She was a twenty year teacher who spoke to the WRDSB Trustees early last January for a very few minutes before being shut down by the Chair Scott Piatkoski. He made statements that she was contravening the Human Rights Code along with other assorted nonsense because she was criticizing what she believed to be age inappropriate books in her school's library. Not only was she shut down in mid delegation but the next day the WRDSB ordered her to stay home from work (teaching) and NOT to contact any of her students or colleagues. Later various WRDSB staff and or Chair Piatkowski made less than accurate depictions of her delegation to the media . 

Full Disclosure: I have contempt and disgust for the WRDSB senior administrators over their behaviour from three decades ago. On the other hand my political leanings are left and I usually vote NDP of which Mr. Piatkowski has I believe been both a member and a past candidate. Frankly based upon Mr. Piatkowski's recent behaviour I wouldn't vote for him to become a dog catcher. Somewhat similar to my opinion about the dishonourable Robert Reilly (Superior Court) in that he's not fit to judge my dog much less any human being. 

Regarding the Min. of Environment (MECP) and Lanxess Canada in Elmira I have over the last two days advised my readers about sending my written assessment of the almost completed and stinky Canagagigue Creek Risk Assessment (RA) to the Technical Advisory Group (TAG). I then forwarded that e-mail communication along to all six Woolwich councillors and to the Ontario MECP. Lastly just yesterday I further forwarded the whole thing along to all sixteen (14?) Waterloo Regional councillors. Although I have as yet not received any relevant feedback from the regional councillors I think that I may have received one or two thank yous and we will respond further when back from holidays type notices. 

It is of course all very pitiful. The only "authorities" who appear to have any commonsense or even interest are the media. In today's Record there is another article concerning Caroline Burjowski and the WRDSB. My concern with her defamation lawsuit against the WRDSB has nothing to do with truth and facts being on her side and everything to do with "homecooking" at Superior Court in Kitchener. I have personally witnessed asinine local judicial decision making.  The WRDSB are unaccountable in both my and others experience based upon their stature and influence financially and otherwise. I have also seen local prosecutors make both good and very bad decisions whether to prosecute or not. Allowing local Woolwich politicians to skate on blatant, egregious and most likely intentional errors and falsehoods in their Election Financial Statements contrary to provincial law (Municipal Elections Act) is an example.

This is how step by step, year by year, our democracy is diminishing. Of course truth and justice can always be bought. Just ask Donald Trump and other lesser idiots albeit also wealthy ones.     

OFFICIAL RESPONSES TO DATE REGARDING YESTERDAY'S POST

 Simultaneously I have received responses from various media folks regarding another ongoing issue namely the shutdown of the Heidelberg wells. That is good news and indicates appropriate interest. Regarding the Canagagigue Creek Risk Assessment (RA) however I have to date received only two responses namely from Jason Rice of the MECP and Patrick Merlihan of Woolwich Council. Both indicated that they were currently unavailable but would respond shortly. 

Starting with TAG members, to date not even a single response such as the two above.  For me this somewhat indicates what I've long suspected is a ban on individual members responding to or even individually asking for information from third parties. If I am correct on that then shame on the person giving the order (Tiffany or Sandy?) and shame on any and all who comply with it.

Neither Lubna Hussain nor Esther Wearing of the Ministry of Environment (MECP) have responded at all yet nor do I expect them to. Afterall it was the MECP who participated in the contemptible removal of CPAC volunteers back in late 2014 and 2015 along with Chemtura and Woolwich Council.

Lastly we have Woolwich Council themselves. Now on occasion over the last few years I have received the odd inquiry or response from individual Council members. Regarding yesterday's e-mail to them as stated only Patrick Merlihan has responded. I expect that any attempt at a ban on Council members responding individually would be appropriately resisted unlike what appears to be happening at TAG. That said let's see if any others on Council are offended by blatant greenwashing and a politically correct but environmentally damaging Risk Assessment (RA) of the Canagagigue Creek.    

ANOTHER BUSY ENVIRONMENTAL MORNING

Well as per the title above I've been a busy beaver sending off documentation regarding two separate environmental issues, one in Heidelberg and one in Elmira (& downstream). I believe that our authorities decided decades ago never to have to go through another public relations/environmental disaster as occurred in Elmira after November 1989. The problem unfortunately is that rather than focus on avoiding another environmental disaster by taking strong action they decided to focus more on the public relations disaster. Public relations disasters are very difficult for politicians who like to assure the public that all is under control when it is not. Our municipal and regional politicians knew full well that Uniroyal Chemical in all their negative glory were but the tip of the iceberg. Good Lord all three cities as well as the Townships had conveniently looked the other way regarding industrial contamination for many, many decades. Just here in Elmira, Ontario there have been numerous environmental cleanups from a multitude of offending industries and businesses such as Uniroyal, Varnicolor (two sites), Nutrite/Yara, service stations (3 sites) including Voisin Motors, Strauss Fuels and one more still unnamed at the north end of town. Other than Uniroyal and Varnicolor everything else in town has been kept on the downlow. I repeat that Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge also have had many contaminated sites some absolutely horrific as the one on Bishop St. known as Northstar Aerospace. That gross trichloroethylene (TCE) plume damaged human health severely for those living in downgradient homes. The media coverage was inadequate considering the extent of the completely avoidable environmental disaster.  

Hence today I have sent off my Elmira Advocate postings for July 27 and 28, 2022 to the Waterloo Region Record concerning the upcoming shutdown of the Heidelberg drinking wells. I have also sent my critique of the Canagagigue Creek Risk Assessment to TAG (Technical Advisory Group), Woolwich Council and to the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP). This critique is also my Advocate posting of yesterday August 2/22. While I expect nothing to be done by any of them I do still have hope that certain TAG members as well as the media will step up. It will not be easy for any of them. 

RISK ASSESSMENT (RA) DOUBLE TALK

 It's complicated and intentionally so. It includes deception and manipulation. It's like a magic trick whereby the right hand is gesticulating widely while the real matter at hand is being done surrepticiously by the left hand. Nothing is as it seems. According to Wilson Lau of TAG "The objective of the risk assessment is to determine what the relevant site-specific standard is based on the land uses and people on the site...". Frankly that is a bullsh.t objective.  There are generic standards and criteria that should be used as they are based upon scientific determinations of toxicity and health risks. The generic criteria for various toxins should be the minimum ones used. Hence if land uses and receptors (people) present are greater than normal or expected, the criteria (i.e. permitted concentration of a contaminant) should be reduced versus being raised if at the time of study there are fewer people present than expected.

There is a ton of qualitative bullsh.t versus quantitative data. This is similar to subjective versus objective arguments. In other words you can argue using objective data (facts) which are subject to misinterpretation as well albeit nowhere as egregiously, piously and  dishonestly so as pure subjective (likely speculative) arguments. These qualitative/subjective arguments can sometimes be nothing but guesses and assumptions. For example if you stare for fifteen minutes at a shallow stretch of the Creek and see zero fish then is it honest to claim that the entire five miles of downstream Creek is devoid of fish? Of course not.

How complicated and involved are Risk Assessments (RA)? Good Lord the flacking things go on for years and years. Again I emphasize intentionally. Whether citizen oversight and consultation is done by local, involved citizens or alleged "experts" working for free in their spare time; the amount of reading, rereading, studying and meeting together is way beyond onerous. How many of the current professionals on TAG while working full time for their employers, raising families and owning homes actually have the time to go back and review the thousands upon thousands of pages produced relevant to the RA? None! How many actually do it? None! How many leave and resign mid term whether local citizens or local experts. Lots! Bill Barr, Joe Kelly, Pat McLean, Katarina Richter have all left within the last two or three years alone.    

Risk we are told is determined by the overlap of three factors namely exposure, receptors and contaminant toxicity. An under determination of any of the three greatly and dramatically reduces the risk of harm in this case to human health. What an absolute load! Supposedly you draw three circles close together representing each factor. If the receptors (human beings) do not come into contact with  the toxic contaminants at their current location (exposure) when the study is underway then allegedly there is zero risk. What an absolute croc of crap! On a Monday there may very well be no risk half a mile down the Creek. The next day there might be three fishermen in the same location. Or the very same day there could be one fisherman two miles downstream. Or the pool toys and inflatables found beside the Creek may be in use when those studying the Creek walk by (hence risk) or not (no risk). 

Nobody anytime or anywhere has likely ever studied and completely understood and documented all the receptors, all the contaminants (plus their synergistic effects) and all the possible exposures whether past, present or FUTURE! The entire RA is a complicated mathematical construct far too amenable to self-serving deception and manipulation by those doing the work and those paying them to do the work. No polluter with a long history of disingenuous, self-serving, obfuscating talents should ever be allowed to have ANY influence over the results of a process so able to deceive the victims of pollution. This includes sketchy raw data being provided, influence over the members of any public consultation body, and money paid to investigators, local municipalities, politicians or citizens directly or indirectly whether charitable or for services rendered..