STEP BY STEP - INCH BY INCH - WE NOW HAVE AGREEMENT ON REDUCED UACTS PUMPING

 That came in an e-mail yesterday afternoon at 2:43 pm. from councillor Nathan Cadeau. While it did take eleven days just to get that confirmation it could be argued that in the scheme of things that really isn't terrible. Also of course that isn't the end of it. The confirmation came with claims that I view as nonsense namely that there was public discussion via the RAC and TAG committees. Zero written backup to date on that at the moment. 

Now the exact quote goes like this:   "...these changes have been carefully monitored and discussed in public forum through the TAG/RAC committees or a previous iteration that was a committee of council." Now my response was that certainly Uniroyal and successors have intentionally buried damaging (to them) information in written reports before and made sure that it never made any Agendas for discussion. I strongly reconfirmed to Nathan Cadeau that there has not been debate or discussion at RAC or TAG on the serious matter of large reductions in pumping of the Upper Aquifer on the former Uniroyal site. It indeed has been kept very quiet. 

HERE ARE THE PUMPING RATES FOR THE UACTS OVER THE DECADES

 

Below is the e-mail I sent to Woolwich Council, Woolwich Observer and CPAC a few minutes ago. This is as close to a smoking gun I can provide short of digging up each monthly Progress Report and showing them the numbers.

                                        WOOLWICH COUNCIL                                  August 30, 2023

Following are some of the pumping results for the Upper Aquifer Containment & Treatment System (UACTS) over the last twenty plus years. The units are litres per second (l/sec) but when you multiply by 60 you get litres per minute and by another 60 gets you litres per hour. Pumping volumes as well as associated treatment adds up pretty quickly unless of course you bilaterally (Uniroyal/MECP) decide to keep reducing the volumes of shallow, highly contaminated water that you are pumping and treating.

Jan.   1997   2.41    l/sec        Jan    2000   1.81    l/sec       

July     “       1.69      “           July      “      2.67       “           

Nov    “       2.27       “           Nov     “      2.13       “           

Jan  2003   .88    l/sec

July    "     1.17      "

Nov    "     1.12      "

Jan   2006     .93     l/sec         Jan    2009    .9       l/sec        

July     “      1.04       “            July        “    .7           “        

Nov     “      1.12       “            Nov       “   1.0         “            

Jan   2012    1.0      l/sec

July     "        .9          "

Nov     "       .9           "

Jan    2015    .9      l/sec         Jan    2018    .8       l/sec         

July      “     1.1        “            July       “     1.0          “          

Nov     “       .8         “           Nov        “       .9          “          

Jan   2021   .7       l/sec

July     "      .5          "

Nov     "     .5          "

Jan    2022    .5      l/sec        Jan    2023      .2       l/sec

July      “      .4         “           July       “        .4         “

Nov     “      .2          “

This data is in the corresponding monthly Progress Report produced by Conestoga Rovers (CRA) and later on by GHD on behalf of Uniroyal / Crompton / Chemtura / Lanxess Canada. Council if you ask the MECP or Lanxess or GHD for copies of these specific monthly reports in order for you to confirm the volumes of groundwater pumped they might supply them unless they complain that you've already got them. Please do NOT delegate this confirmation job to any third party because too many Councils have been spoon fed horse manure on this file for far too long. Confirm the accuracy of these pumping numbers first hand. Then ask for any documentation sent to RAC/TAG/CPAC or other stakeholders (public etc.) over the years explaining the rationale for these major reductions while there still are unremediated pits, ponds and lagoons plus DNAPL on site. By the way “decommissioned” means closed to new chemical wastes, not remediated.

Sincerely Alan Marshall

EVIDENCE & PROOF REGARDING MASSIVE DECREASE IN ON-SITE UPPER AQUIFER PUMPING (i.e. UACTS)

 One of the early Control Orders, either the 1984, 1990 or 1991 Ministry of Environment Control Order demanded a monthly Progress Report from Uniroyal Chemical and future corporate owners. Now of course the simple existence of these reports is no panacea especially if yours truly is the only reader of them. I am aware of a few others such as Linda Dickson of TAG who gives a short presentation at TAG meetings regarding this monthly report. I would also expect GHD, consultants to Lanxess, and Lanxess themselves likely read (and write) them. One of the problems is that these monthly reports do not have a quick reference to any of the data (pumping quantities) from the previous three decades hence a quick comparison with past pumping is impossible.

Enter yours truly. I recognized this flaw nearly from the beginning. I wanted a quick way to see how pumping (both on and off site ) was doing. Hence I did what apparently not a single TAG or RAC member has ever done which is to keep my own pumping records based upon these monthly reports. These records I have are a one page, twelve month record of all pumping (& treating) for that year. Now to be perfectly fair to RAC & TAG it is entirely possible that no other CPAC members have done the same either.

Yes these monthly Progress Reports have been handed out either physically or on-line for a long time but that does RAC & TAG who started in September 2015 absolutely no good whatsoever. How many of them asked for back copies and then read them? Apparently nobody or else I would hope that they too would have spotted the gross reductions in Upper Aquifer pumping as I have.

In a nutshell the Township, the Ministry and Uniroyal/Lanxess/CRA/GHD have the entire set of Progress Reports as I do. Wouldn't it have been nice if even a single TAG member had decided to look into this issue.    

NO DENIAL (OR CONFIRMATION) YET FROM WOOLWICH COUNCIL - BOTH "DISCONTINUATION" & UACTS PUMPING REDUCTIONS

 Last Thursday councillor Nathan Cadeau advised myself as well as his council colleagues, via e-mail, that the discontinuation of RAC & TAG were still on the table as part of the "Review". My gut says "Bullsh*t" yet again. My mind says "Bullsh*t yet again".  My heart however says "Dear God is it actually possible ?" I posted here in the Elmira  Advocate about this last Friday.

 IF Nathan was misinformed or inaccurate or confused then it is up to his counciil colleagues or himself to immediately rectify his statement. No one is suggesting intentional manipulation or obfuscation just because it's been part of the skill set of Uniroyal, Lanxess, MECP and Woolwich Councils for decades. Decades of lying to CPAC and the public does not guarantee that everything forever more also has to be a lie. Although surely unbiased and honest readers can understand why those on the receiving end of professional liars over three decades plus tend to expect nothing but more lies on all the important questions.  

Nathan did ask for more time to respond to my e-mail from Saturday August 19/23 which I sent to him and his fellow councillors. I also sent it on to CPAC and some media. That e-mail was specifics regarding the major reductions in Upper Aquifer pumping (& treating) over the last twenty years and especially over the last eight years. That e-mail requires a significant and intelligent response backed with numbers and data. It also requires either a confirmation or a denial from Woolwich Councillors. In other words before any Review of RAC and TAG there must be a clear understanding by Woolwich Councillors themselves regarding RAC and TAG's effectiveness or incompetence.  A canned response handed along from GHD (consultants) on behalf of Lanxess Canada is not acceptable.  Nor is any other self-serving response from Lanxess fellow travellors.

MUST NOT LOSE FOCUS - RAC & TAG VERSUS UPPER AQUIFER LEAKAGE INTO THE CREEK

 

Yes RAC and TAG have successfully fulfilled their function of talking a ton about cleaning groundwater as well as the downstream Creek while at the same time accomplishing neither. In fact the more everyone realizes that full municipal groundwater cleanup may be anywhere from fifteen to thirty or fourty more years away, the more the pumping decreases. It's almost as if all parties are surreptitiously throwing in the towel despite what they say. Actions speak much louder than words. 

This pumping is both off-site pumping of the deep Elmira Aquifers as well as on-site pumping of the shallow aquifers (UA1 primarily). At the moment focus has shifted somewhat to the review of RAC and TAG. It should come back to the Upper Aquifer Containment & Treatments System (UACTS) precisely because TAG need to wear that ongoing failure of both communications/consultation as well as significantly lowered hydraulic containment of the Upper Aquifer on site which discharges into the Canagagigue Creek. There is absolutely no excuse for this huge matter to have been ignored by TAG for the last eight years. For that matter if these TAG members are so damn smart and experienced why have exactly none of them not noticed what's going on? Which is worse: Not knowing due to incompetence/inexperience or knowing and saying nothing due to c o r r u p t i o n ???

ONE COUNCILLOR HAS ADVISED THAT THE DISCONTINUATION OF RAC & TAG ARE ON THE TABLE

 

That is very good news  The question is however Is it absolutely true? Now Councillor Cadeau's written claim was cc'd to the other five councillors so certainly in a perfect , even reasonable, world one could expect a very quick denial from some if not all councillors if Mr. Cadeau misspoke. It's almost 24 hours later and so far no denials, no ifs ands or buts... O.K. certainly there should be some urgency to their response particularly as Councillor Cadeau is attempting to get CPAC to attend a meeting discussing the future of RAC and TAG. 

RAC & TAG weaknesses:

MU pumping reductions! Never ending acceptance of excuses.

UA pumping reductions! & TAG non recognition/discussion. Gross incompetence or worse?  

Creek Risk Assess. : TAG's failure to give an ultimatum re: "hotspots" cleanup and more

 Creek Risk Assess. : TAG's failure to demand better MDLs, less biased sampling locations, > parameters (PAHs, mercury, PCBs etc.)

TAG's REFUSAL to allow either comments or questions from the gallery/floor

TAG's REFUSAL to allow verbal Delegations from the public (written only which they ignore-0 questions etc.)

RAC's REFUSAL to allow either comments or questions from the floor

TAG's lack of support or even interest in Sebastian's (TAG & CPAC member) presentations regarding the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm.

TAG's refusal to consider the grossly inadequate sampling of the Stroh property.

TAG's acceptance of 15 cm. (5.9") depth of "excavations" on the border between Lanxess & Stroh. 

Whether or not CPAC members either the full group or just a couple by their own choice attend a stakeholders' meeting to determine RAC & TAG's future; there are written criticisms regarding RAC & TAG including this one. Council's past mistreatment and manipulation of CPAC is more than ample reason not to attend this meeting if CPAC so decide. I'm frankly not certain that any Council listening to either Dave Brenneman or Sandy Shantz's input are trustworthy by volunteer citizens whose environmental goals are so diametrically opposed to Lanxess, MECP, GHD and past councils.   

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THAT WE HAD FLOODS IN ONTARIO DURING AUGUST?

 Climate change it is. We are forecast to be having more rainy and cool weather in Ontario and possibly warmer winters than usual and it is already happening. I do not recall a July and August as wet as this one. My basement sump pump is always bone dry from mid June until September but that sure hasn't occurred this year. April and May were drier than usual and July and August far wetter. In fact last summer we had crop losses in southern Ontario from lack of rain. This year it's floods. The good news is that the trees on the boulevards planted in the last five to seven years aren't suffering this summer. I have in the past watered them when things got really dry. Not this summer at all.

"LOCAL COUNCIL ARE TRYING" - JUST NOT HARD ENOUGH

 I've been having some interesting e-mail exchanges with councillor Nathan Cadeau recently. Or his proxy. He seems to have learned a lot about groundwater in a very short time. We'll see where this goes although my understanding is that Woolwich Council are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic currently. In other words they are changing the Terms of Reference for TAG & RAC (?) which is a joke. Shame on each and every one of them who voted in favour of that crap.

It is always difficult interpreting both words and actions. Usually time straightens out for you those who are straight shooters and those who aren't. It's a little early to tell with the five recent new councillors although most of us were positively impressed with Bonnie Bryant after her first term several years ago. Mayor Shantz has less support (no surprise there) from CPAC members. 

Myself and Richard Clausi have both suggested in writing that RAC and TAG be abolished and replaced with the CPAC members from eight years ago. Perhaps having the mayor walk the plank might also be a good idea but just about as likely.  

STILL WAITING IN BREATHLESS ANTICIPATION FOR HONEST AND ACCURATE ANSWERS FROM THE MECP - LOCAL COUNCIL ARE TRYING

 Back on August 3, 2023 (19 days ago) I sent an e-mail to Lubna Hussain and Jason Rice (maybe more?) of the Ontario Ministry of Environment inquiring about the May 2016 Risk Assessment of the former Varnicolor Chemical property (Now Elmira Pump)  presented in Woolwich Council. Mayor Sandy attended along with many others including the hydrogeologist for Elmira Pump, Jim Germann and Joey Kuntz Nineteen days later and surprise, surprise not so much as a peep of a response from the MECP. At that time (2016) Elmira Pump were still jumping through hoops and loops set by the MECP before the company were allowed to do any development on their formerly heavily contaminated site. Thank you MECP for your usual and normal courtesy, professionalism, conceit and corruption. Keep up the high standard achieved by only the very worst provincial ministries.

I received a response from Woolwich councillor Nathan Cadeau to my Saturday e-mail advising councillors that the shallow aquifer pumping and treating is in the toilet. Just as concerning is the deafening silence around this by both RAC and TAG who allegedly are staying on top of the issues on behalf of Council, stakeholders and the general public. What a pathetic joke that is. Now I must say that Nathan is trying but it is a difficult file and frankly I don't see anyone other than CPAC who are willing to honestly assist him. Certainly Lanxess, GHD, MECP, Region of Waterloo, RAC or TAG merely want to protect the status quo. It's working just dandy for them. Not so good for the Creek, the aquifers, the wildlife and the downstream residents however. 

I've responded to Nathan trying to get him aimed in the right direction. Let's see what happens next.     

SENT TO WOOLWICH COUNCIL & CPAC. WHAT ABOUT RAC & TAG?

Saturday's (2 days ago) posting of the Elmira Advocate was sent to all of Woolwich Council (6 members) as well as to CPAC .  The posting was in regards to what has been a very quiet, deliberate reduction in on-site pumping of shallow groundwater (UACTS) that normally discharges into the Canagagigue Creek. It was this discharge of grossly contaminated groundwater that kept the "Gig" uninhabitable for most desirable fish species. Suckers, shiners and carp could survive in some areas of the Creek but despite the ending of open discharge into on-site pits, ponds and lagoons in the late 1960s, the Creek remained heavily polluted simply from ongoing shallow, groundwater discharge. After 1997-98 and the implementation of the Upper Aquifer Containment & Treatment System which consisted of ten or eleven shallow pumping wells, visible improvement of the Creek began. These improvements of course did nothing for the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) already in the creekbank soils and bottom sediments. DDT, dioxins/furans, PCBs, PAHs etc. have all done major damage to various lifeforms in and around the Creek for the last 75 years. 

As per last Saturday's posting the reductions in shallow aquifer pumping & treating have been dramatic. Dramatic and very, very quiet. Quiet to the point of being surreptitious. Quiet to the point of being sneaky. Quiet to the point of being a coordinated attempt to secretly undermine a major component of the cleanup of the Canagagigue Creek. There is virtually no way that this has not been discussed very quietly by Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess  with the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP). Clearly in collusion those two (at a minimum)  decided to keep these financial savings to Chemtura/Lanxess quiet and secret. 

The monthly Progress Reports merely indicate the pumping rates (on & off site) for the current month. They do not indicate past pumping rates and they certainly do not point out when their pumping rates have been consistently decreasing over the decades. My goodness but that might even arouse the ire and angst of the most complacent. Regarding sending this info directly to RAC and TAG I think I may wait and see on that one. Or let others such as councillors do the job.     

RAC & TAG ARE MERELY "CONTROLLED" OPPOSITION

Load these groups up with career bureaucrats and politicians as well as young professionals in the environmental field who want long and financially comfortable careers. This will ensure that nobody gets too far out of line and uses words or phrases like "conflict of interest", "self-serving",  "junk science" etc. Maintain tight control of these municipal council appointees. Feed the narrative that they are green and pro environment. Pretend that Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess are also green and pro environment when any idiot can see that the polluter and successors' goal is shareholder profits like most other corporations. You can never be too careful in the subtle art of lying to the masses.

Besides recent posts pointing out the failure to adequately pump and treat enough groundwater to restore Elmira's water to drinking water standards what else is going on? Well the Upper Aquifer Containment & Treatment System (UACTS) pumping and treating is also in the toilet. Along with that there is also the small matter of Yara pump & treat also being significantly decreased over the years. At one point I was falsely accused by the dynamic duo of holding up the then new ammonia treatment system. It was rubbish then and now as we see that without public discussion or debate both systems have been quietly slipping into irrelevance for years. 

The UACTS started out in the late 1990s pumping between 2 and 2.7 litres per second. It's purpose was to stop the discharge of grossly contaminated upper aquifer groundwater into the Canagagigue Creek on the Uniroyal Chemical site. Over the years the pumping and treating slowly decreased without public debate. In 2010 it was still normally at 1 - 1.3 litres per second. Same thing with the year 2014 when the old CPAC were still holding Chemtura's feet to the fire albeit Sandy and mark were listening to private lobbying from Chemtura. Lo and behold but the last four months of 2015 UACTS pump & treat were all below 1.0 l/sec after CPAC were removed by Mark and Sandy.

From the inception of RAC and TAG the UACTS has continued to decrease. 2019 was a big year as the litres per second of the most heavily contaminated groundwater on site was reduced to .6 to .9 l/sec by the end of the year. These lower rates continued throughout 2020 and were again reduced in 2021 all without PUBLIC discussion at either RAC or TAG. 2022 rates were again decreased down to .2 to .5  l/sec. 2023 pump & treat has continued these money saving rates for Lanxess at the expense of the Creek, the wildlife and downstream human beings. 

The Yara (Nutrite) removal of ammonia was hooked into the Uniroyal/Lanxess system in late 2008. By 2009 they were at .5 litres per second but by 2010 were as low as .3  l/sec. They were back up in 2011 to .6  l/sec and down again to .1 to .5  l/sec in 2012. From 2013 - 2018 they fluctuated between .1 and .4  l/sec without any PUBLIC explanation to CPAC, RAC or TAG. 2019-2022 has continued with the extremely low Yara pump & treat of ammonia contaminated groundwater. 2023 however has been a prizewinner with new low pumping rates of .02, .04 and .05 l/sec again with absolutely no PUBLIC discussion at RAC or TAG.

Now while I do not know how well the ammonia has been cleaned up at Yara I do know that the Upper Aquifer at Uniroyal/Lanxess is still grossly contaminated and is expected to remain so in perpetuity or at least for the next couple of centuries whichever comes first. Elmira citizens and UPC/CPAC were all advised that the Uniroyal site could never be cleaned up and that pump & treat was necessary forever. This ongoing decreasing of the pump & treat systems has NOT been agreed to by anyone PUBLICLY although I fully expect that all the guilty parties have done so a long time ago. If it smells like rotten fish then it's probably corruption. 

DO OUR WORST POLITICIANS HAVE ANY REDEEMING FEATURES?

 Well I'm going to suggest that they do. Specifically in the worst characterization I'm going to suggest Donald Trump (U.S.) and Doug Ford (Ont.). Now just to show that this post is not entirely partisan I'm going to include a third politician although I will admit that he does not have the chops or the stupidity to really join the first two. Trump is a Republican, Ford is a Conservative and lo and behold Justin Trudeau is a a Canadian federal Liberal.

Donald Trump among his many sins (lying, cheating, fraud etc.) attempted to illegally overturn a U.S. federal election in his favour. What a complete ass*ole! Doug Ford is a liar and a deceiver. He's mostly been caught out on the Greenbelt scandal here in Ontario. There are calls for a police investigation so we will see where this goes. His other anti-environment decisions since gaining power in Ontario have made him a pariah among those trying to improve our natural environment. Justin is far smoother than both. He has ended the up till recently perfectly legal market in handgun sales to qualified and licensed individuals. Private ownership and use on legal ranges has not been a problem. Illegal acquiring and use of handguns by gangs and criminals has been. Those firearms are generally smuggled into Canada from the U.S. where they are readily available. Justin Trudeau also banned AR 15 style rifles in Canada. Notice I said AR15 style not automatic rifles because AR15s are not automatic. There are no legal automatic rifles in Canada and haven't been I'm guessing since the 1930s. Justin promised to buy back AR15s from Canadians who bought them legally and who can no longer use them on legal shooting ranges. Nor can Canadians sell them or give them away legally. Over three years later and not one nickel has gone to Canadian citizens for their property that the federal government made illegal to use via Cabinet decree. Not even by legislation through the House of Commons. I believe that I have become a non partisan politician hater because of these three.

So what is their one redeeming feature? They have demonstrated how terribly inept and generally stupid huge portions of our electorate are. They have proven that democracy is equally capable of elevating ignorant and dangerous people to positions of authority they should never have attained. These three have helped to ensure that politics continues to be seen as a home for scumbags and professional liars. If I'm right then all three will get reelected. If I'm wrong all three will get thrown out on their ass*s to make room for the next crop of scumbags and professional liars.    

IT LOOKS AS IF LANXESS & THE MECP AREN"T EVEN TRYING ANYMORE

 Off-site pumping and treating (i.e. the deep aquifers beneath Elmira, Ont.) is in the toilet. The longterm pumping average for all off-site pumping used to be in the 53 litres per second area up to the end of 2012. Then Chemtura publicly promised CPAC that they would TRIPLE the amount of off-site pumping and treating. Later on they downgraded their brag to a DOUBLING of the off-site pumping. It has never happened! It's never even been close. 

June 2023 as reported here two days ago was not a good pumping month with some of the usual excuses. The total off-site pumping was 38.43 litres per second during the month. Well that has now been under surpassed for the month of July with 24.59 litres per second. Now do keep in mind that this isn't just the result of lowered expectations from decades of excuses and under achievements but includes excuses such as "pulse pumping" and  delays in getting new parts. Delays that we were told years ago would be minimized via the keeping of spare parts on hand ahead of time. Promises mean nothing to them apparently.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS AS LUISA D'AMATO KICKS THE WATERLOO REGION DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD'S AS* ALL OVER THE PLACE

 It's been decades since Luisa D'Amato covered the school board (WRDSB) beat full time. I miss her pointed barbs in which she asked innocuous questions such as why in tough economic times does the school board spend so much time and money pounding on their critics. The answer (in my opinion) is that the Board  are a pack of self-entitled, pompous, arrogant ass*s whose aim in life is to spend taxpayers money harassing anybody (students, teachers, parents, activists etc.) who has the audacity to publicly disagree with them just about anything. 

Today's Record article by Luisa is titled "Latest board complaint against Ramsay has been halted by integrity commissioner". Apparently the gutless and anonymous trustee complainant plus others failed to notice two points namely that the latest complaint failed to meet the time limits (for complaints) as well as the double jeopardy criteria. As painful as it appears to be to some trustees, you are only allowed to go after a trustee through the Code of Conduct but once for each offence. The anonymous complainant was using the same alleged offence for which Ramsay had already been found in violation of the Code of Conduct over a year ago. Geez!

Apparently there is provincial legislation already passed and given royal assent. It has yet to be proclaimed and so it appears that gun slinger trustees felt that this was their last chance to pillory and harass their fellow trustee, Mike Ramsay. Or as Luisa D'Amato indicated their last chance to "...drag Ramsay through one final kangaroo court of his peers ...". Hmm speaking of kangaroo courts apparently they are popular in other K-W venues as well.  

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

 Actually at one time there used to be a full page of excuses each month as to why various pumps didn't meet their Target Rates. Everything from power failures to dirty glass, needing cleaning on the Ultraviolet Tubes which break down NDMA. Plus less than a hundred other excuses each month including broken parts without spares readily available, labour shortages due to date nights , poker games etc. O.K. I made up the last two but I think you get the picture.

 So here's a few excuses that got mentioned on the front page of the June 2023 Monthly Progress Report. Pumping Well PW5 was operating at a reduced pumping rate due to decreased well efficiency. Well that's pretty non-specific and generic. Was the water level too low? How about the pipe being partially obstructed? Anything at all? Nope.

Pumping Well W3R was shut down on June 22, 2023 due to an over pressurization in the system and a rupture disc activation. Lanxess Canada are currently awaiting the receipt of replacement rupture discs. My understanding is that rupture discs are a dime a dozen hence why have any spares available when you save money by not pumping and treating groundwater?

Extraction well W5A was shut down on June 8, 2023 due to failure of the pump/motor. Who would have thought that eventually a pump/motor running 24/7 might actually break down? Lanxess have requested replacements but are unable to install until July 21/23 due to  Lotowater Technical Services Inc. lack of crane availability.

E7 is shut down for "pulse pumping". Anybody suggest that the pumping/treating capacity of this well could be used elsewhere (i.e. drill a spare pumping well) when E7 is shut down because allegedly NDMA concentrations are low right there?

JUNE 2023 MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT

 Hmm I'm tempted... JUNE 2023 MONTHLY BULLSH*T REPORT  You know professional liars are very big on all things professional as in "Oh using the word bullsh*t isn't professional. O.K. by me. I've seen way too much lack of professionalism here in Elmira over the last thirty years. Not everybody and not all the time. But still way too much. Another expression is "You can fool some of the people some of the time and some of the people all the time but you can't fool all the people all the time." I like that one a lot. 

The off-site (i.e. Elmira Aquifers) pumping rates are sad for the month of June 2023. Pumping well W3R has a Target Rate of 18.5 l/sec and only pumped at 16.6 l/sec. Excuses for this well just like the others are a dime a dozen and just about as sad. On-Site Pumping Well PW5 has a Target of 1.8 l/sec and managed only 1.0 l/sec. Other off-site pumping failures in June include W5A, and E7. Lanxess dispute E7 claiming that pulse pumping (i.e. intermittent) is O.K. Can't imagine why I'm doubtful about that statement. Both on and off-site wells with extremely low Target Rates include the Upper Aquifer Wells at .5  l/sec total pumping for ten or eleven shallow wells as well as W6A, W6B and W8 at .32, .44 and .1 l/sec pumping rates. With these pumping rates is it any wonder that we are not going to have groundwater at drinking water standards in 2028 or for likely decades afterwards?

WOOLWICH COUNCILLORS ARE SEEING WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS (Saturdays Blog on Sunday)

 What they have learned with the Qualified Pe#$^*+ affair is that the Region of Waterloo as well as the Ontario Ministry of Environment have no intention of opening any cans of worms. "Cans of worms" is defined as any new information or data that might 1) upset the public 2) upset Lanxess 3) upset the Region 4) upset the Township. Basically let sleeping, dead or muzzled dogs lie. Do not stir the pot. Once a political deal is done let no environmentalist tear it asunder. 

How shocking that the Region's coverup was so amateurish. Despite lots of evidence to the contrary Uniroyal/Lanxess continues to operate as if they had done nothing wrong. So people died, so people got sick. They'd have died anyways eventually. They'd have gotten sick anyways, eventually. It's a whole new set of rules for corporations or when big money is involved.

Call  consultants  Qualified Penises versus Qualified Persons and you are a horrible human being.  Anybody remember "sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me" chants from our youth? Maybe a small exaggeration but only a small one. Uniroyal Chemical have not cleaned up their site. They have not cleaned up the Elmira Aquifers to drinking water standards. They have not begun to clean up the Canagagigue Creek. Those are the important things. Continued dissembling and coverups on their behalf will never get anything cleaned up.

Meanwhile while excuses abound, June's pumping & treating of the Elmira Aquifers set a new record - for low pumping rates. Meanwhile east side commercial and industrial expansion including the Elmira Bypass is planned to literally coverup Uniroyal contamination on both the Stroh and Martin farms. Finally the Lanxess/MECP plan for the Canagagigue Creek includes zero downstream cleanup of DDT, dioxins, PAHs, mercury and PCBs. Tons of excuses and mathematical contrivances say it's all good when it is not. Elmira is one more in a long litany of Ontario and Canada environmental disasters improperly cleaned up. What a mess we are leaving future generations.

POLITICS: THE ART OF GETTING ONE'S WAY IN AN ALLEGED DEMOCRACY

 I'm embarrassed to write that quote about politics above in the title. Embarrassed because there is absolutely no proviso or condition that "one's way" is in the public interest. In fact as we are being so constantly reminded by our non esteemed provincial government; "one's way" includes friends and buddies of Premier Ford. Regarding the Greenbelt scandal not only is prime agricultural land being taken out of production but trees as well which are the lungs of the province. The Auditor General has concluded that TWO developers have had the value of their properties increased by BILLIONS of dollars with their properties removal from the designated Greenbelt. What a province we live in.

And meanwhile I sometimes wonder why our Ontario Ministry of Environment is so bad. Where the hell are they when this crap is going on in the province? Oh right the Minister of the Environment is sitting at the Cabinet table keeping his goddamn mouth shut because his personal ambitions and financial future are much more important than those of millions of Ontarians. Apparently the whole smokescreen about land being needed to build housing is just more government bullsh*t. According to the Auditor General we have lots of land available for housing in Ontario. So why lie about it? So that developers and wealthy donors to the Conservative party remember who their friends are prior to the next election. Similar to our justice system we have the best political (or judicial) system in the world, that money can buy. 

ONE WOOLWICH COUNCILLOR IS WORKING PARTICULARLY HARD TO ESTABLISH & MAINTAIN COMMUNICATIONS WITH CPAC

 Full credit to councillor Nathan Cadeau. Now I'm not going to jinx him by suggesting that he's the best thing on Woolwich Council since sliced bread because there are other good councillors working quietly away. Nathan however has stepped up and whether he's seen around the complaints about my use of an inappropriate word or not, he's certainly got his eye on the important stuff. Stuff like governments being transparent. Governments communicating honestly with the citizens and taxpayers footing the bill. Governments whether municipal, regional or provincial speaking truth to their citizens despite possible political fallout. Well done Nathan.

Above and beyond the above reasons for myself and CPAC members being upset at the Region of Waterloo's, somewhat in our minds, cavalier attitude to the source of soil contamination beneath Church St. East, is the obvious question: Why wouldn't Uniroyal Chemical soil and groundwater contamination have flowed northwards? Also if likely (and it is) why would the Region attempt to hide or downplay it? Ahh now we're heading back to the "sweetheart" deal between Uniroyal and the Ontario Min. of Environment as well as later bilateral deals between Uniroyal and the Region and Uniroyal and the Township. Money was of course involved and in my opinion both the Township and the Region sold the farm. Did the MOE/MECP  do even worse in order to avoid criminal charges potentially? I ask this question based upon their mandate and their Terms of Reference. I would certainly be surprised to find out that somewhere in their operating directions there is some clauses ordering them to coverup for large or influential polluters. That would kind of give their credibility a kick in the teeth don't you think?

Uniroyal offered money to the Region and Township to cover additional costs borne by the taxpayers during the early years of the Elmira Water Crisis. This would include lab costs, pipeline construction costs, bottled water costs and lots more. Unfortunately Uniroyal would have thrown in conditions which our political bodies should have refused. Perhaps conditions included leaving the status quo alone. Uniroyal accepted full responsibility for all contamination in the municipal aquifers, proven or not. Uniroyal's contamination allegedly only flowed south-west off site in groundwater, shallow and deep. The deep groundwater polluted the south wellfield (E7 & E9) and most of the shallow groundwater discharged into the Canagagigue Creek from both the east and west creekbanks. Allegedly nothing flowed due east, due west or northwards. Time and more has proven that false. 

This folks is what your parents told you as children. Lies breed more lies. Lies from thirty four years ago require fresh lies to maintain the facade.     

  

CPAC RESPONSE REGARDING REGION'S REFUSAL TO DO QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

 Vivienne, Richard, Henry and I all took turns attempting to educate the Region of Waterloo. Conversely I would suggest that we had pretty good discussions with two Woolwich Councillors. Regardless facts have been clarified that have intentionally tried to have been forgotten by all the guilty parties. These facts describe among other things the litany of intentionally counterproductive behaviours by Uniroyal & successors, Min. of Environment (MOE/MECP) and past Woolwich Councils. 

In a nutshell the Region dillydallied for four weeks essentially in the end stating "Trust Us", "our consultants are not Qualified Pen%es* they are actually sent from heaven, perfect individuals who do not require quantitative analysis of anything because they are so damned smart they can determine complex closely similar chemical composition of asphalt, tar macadam, benzene sources etc. without any need for expensive and time consuming third parties taking samples, establishing chains of custody and then qualified chemists doing their thing in the lab. In the vernaculat I suggest that the Region's belatedly elucidated position and behaviour is outrageous bullsh*t at it's best. So sorry if I've hurt anyone's feelings with my non laboratory analysis of the Region's behaviour.

I had listed three major coverups during the last thirty years. Richard focused on the quantitative or hand waving exercise of the Region's consultants. Vivienne asked the straightforward question as to why certain individuals got so upset over a word and were so able to ignore the serious issue of more Uniroyal contamination and more serious health effects in their fury to condemn me and the one rude word. Henry dug up an old research text describing water pollution in and around the Great lakes in the 1960s and various attempts to address it. Henry also pointed out quotes and comments regarding general failures by municipalities to step up and address water pollution properly. My recollection is that Woolwich fitted right in with other municipalities.

P.S. I hate computers. One misstep with hitting buttons/keys left me high and dry trying to post my Blog today. Fortunately my in house tech support came to my rescue. Thank You.   

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS OR WHY I TOOK A SMALL ROUND OUT OF PHIL

I don't believe that I had ever heard of him before or certainly ever met him. His only "sin" may have been what Sebastian referred to as "professional condescension" which of course is hardly a mortal sin or when compared to the ongoing and never ending sins of say the Ministry of Environment (MECP) is pretty small potatoes. So why did I refer to his QPs as Qualified Pe#%&*+. Well certainly I've had a bellyful of asshats and other "professional" jerks categorically dismissing the efforts of citizen scientists and citizen volunteers here in Elmira, Ontario. Also I've had decades of reading the reports produced by alleged "Qualified Persons" and often they are nothing but self-serving garbage served up on a plate of aren't we special. Far too many lies have been told and swallowed by some simply because reports are signed by bought and paid for jerks with credentials. 

Phil was trying to defend the fact that it now seems clear that the Region of Waterloo hit contaminated soil under Church St. East along the border of the former Uniroyal Chemical property and they the Region were NOT interested in specifics and details. Specifics and details such as a full analysis of the contaminated soil plus were there any identifying or signature (Uniroyal) chemicals as well as the benzene we were told about. It is important as to whether or not the contamination originated from Uniroyal Chemical or from some alleged coal tar paving (tar macadam).  I indicated in an earlier missive that Phil appears to have been handed a can of worms by Boris Lakovic who was the immediate superviser on the job. If that is correct than Phil was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and took the brunt of my appropriate outrage. At the same time my "outrage" was also an attempt to deride and poke fun at the Region in general which under the circumstances is understandable. Do I have anything personal against Phil? Of course not. He may be either a saint or a devil for all I know or more likely somewhere in between.

I apologized straight up without excuses to Ron C. for sending him a copy of my e-mail to Phil but when Sebastian took offence, I did not apologize. Sebastian was out of line and I'm running out of patience. Yes Sebastian is one of the few on TAG who fully understands their failures and weaknesses but still appears to want to bridge both CPAC and TAG. Nice in theory but in practice I believe there is something biblical about trying to please two masters??? TAG are not a total writeoff but are very close. They were appointed NOT to rock the boat and in fact I believe to actually add credibility to each and every incredibly bad decision and position of Chemtura/Lanxess and the MECP. Leadership is not deference and more TAG members need to stand up publicly and be counted. Otherwise resign and make room for those with more courage and backbone to oppose the junk science and psuedo science being used to justify NOT cleaning up the Creek and the aquifers properly.

 

MUCH ADO ABOUT VERY LITTLE (Pun Intended)

 In general of course. I'm much too mature and secure to worry that the title refers to myself. Ha! Anyways here's the bottom line (no pun intended).This is a semi quote from a free thinker and friend. "Why are they less concerned about health effects and more concerned about a single word ?"  Or as I would put it "Virtue signaling at its' best." Now the reality is likely somewhere in the middle.  I've put some thought into this and here's my takeaway. Everybody has the right to express an opinion even in my estimation a strong one that will offend some people. That said I can understand some third parties not wishing to be included in correspondence that could be construed as either risque or rude. Hence as those people have expressed that position then I will simply not include them in any further outbursts of humour or rancour. I believe that as a friend they have expressed their limitations and I will try to respect them. I don't have to agree with them but I will be more thoughtful as to whom may unintentionally be offended by my particular sense of humour etc.

Now as to the "guilty" parties that is a different thing. Disrespect can be blatant, somewhat in my style, or it can be more subtle but still very nasty. The MECP are total assh*les in this regard. The Ministry (of environment) do not like to share lnowledge and facts with us the unwashed masses. Yes a large part of it is self-defence on their parts. They are confident that honest information shared can come back to bite them in the as*. So they obfuscate, delay, deny and do everything possible not to communicate honestly with the concerned public including local stakeholders. I am not remotely obligated to treat them decently as they have not treated me, my friends or colleagues decently, ever. 

Swinging back to "health effects" where is the outrage that the Region and Min. of Environment are not communicating directly and honestly with myself, CPAC and or even our elected representatives? Uniroyal Chemical continues to leak like a sieve and I am confident that all our authorities know that whether it be via groundwater, surface water, soil vapours  or air emissions. Where are the letters and e-mails to our government bodies demanding truthfulness and honesty not to mention timely responses to our questions? Why have citizens not flooded Woolwich Council meetings whether virtual or in person with their demands for a proper groundwater cleanup to be completed by 2028 as promised? Why is the Stroh property getting a pass from honest, straightforward soil testing throughout? Why is the Risk Assessment of the Canagagigue Creek being allowed to be hijacked by Qualified P&&&&&&, bought and paid for by the polluter and his successors? 

Part of the answer and I emphasize only part of the answer might be confidence. Citizens don't have enough confidence (even informed ones) in their knowledge and in their common sense. They don't feel capable to confront suits, bureaucrats and consultants with initials after their names on matters of fact. They automatically defer to "experts" without looking at who these "experts" are deferring to. They have much more confidence in jumping on a single rude or risque word or expression and expressing a strong opinion on that. The guilty parties appreciate their sensitivities. I understand them. 

  

"THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT"

 I double downed last evening. Or I ran out of patience. Imagine that after only 34 years of bafflegab, bulls*it, obfuscation and corruption I snapped. Well it wasn't a full scale snap. Just a small scale snap. I had some $%^&* from the Region of Waterloo, who I don't think I've ever heard of before, give me the Qualified Persons (QP) crap for the last time. Well I expect it's for the last time. I rather ungraciously made it clear that I viewed all QPs as male suits acting as yes men for their clients. I did not use the term intellectual prostitutes nor did I use the harsh word liars. I did however  refer to them as qualified (rhymes with venus but refers to their predominately male gender). Yes I viewed that as a take off on qualified persons and my word shares a lot of letters with "persons". 

What really got to me is the over three weeks that I and others have been asking three or four very straightforward questions of the Region regarding the contaminated soils that allegedly set them back a week to remove and ship off site from Church St. here in Elmira, Ontario. I am very tired of having to send five and six e-mails when one should do the job. Then being told that all the Region requires are the "opinions" of their bought and paid for QPs was a step too far. 

I believe that Uniroyal Chemical, contrary to our authorities ridiculous claims, actually had their contamination migrate off site north, south, east and west. Our authorities claim that it only migrated off-site in the south-west direction despite shallow excavations on the east side (Stroh property).  There is also evidence of Uniroyal chemicals having migrated west from the M2 and TPW2 area (Uniroyal) over to the Nutrite/Yara property. While always likely this is probably the first real hints of northward migration and all we get are the "opinions" and "conclusions" of Qualified Persons working on behalf of the Region of Waterloo. Totally unacceptable.  

YET ANOTHER WOOLWICH DOG AND PONY SHOW?

 Is that what happened last night at Woolwich Council regarding the Region (Boris & Jenn) allegedly clearing things up about their claim of coal tar paving (macadam) being found underneath Church St. right in front of the former Uniroyal Chemical plant? I had been watching the on-line Agenda since last Friday and nothing despite an e-mail suggesting that a councillor had asked the Region to attend. Again nothing on the Agenda yesterday morning. By last evening lo and behold Boris & Jenn were on the Agenda. Nicely played but hey that probably corresponds to their self serving "rules".

. There was a map/Figure along with a page and a half of bulls*it. This bulls*it included the claim that none of the soils tested had chemicals at hazardous levels. Allegedly none were hazardous yet removing them separately and trucking them to a special landfill delayed the project by a week. Sure that makes sense. It turns out that the alleged tarmacadam was not tested to prove that it indeed was tarmacadam. No it was assumed to be tarmacadam based upon soil testing beneath it (remember benzene was found) as well as the opinion of the bought and paid for QPs. QPs is short for bought and paid for experts. 

The page and a half of bulls*it  stated that answers to the councillors' questions were distributed to them. Gee that's sweet. What questions were submitted to the Region and what were their answers? Here am I, part of the party who asked the pertinent and relevant questions and guess what? NO ANSWERS YET FROM EITHER THE REGION OR THE MECP. See my Friday July 28/23 posting for the questions needing answers.

Further bulls*it includes the focus on NDMA and chlorobenzene in groundwater underneath Elmira. Talk about conflating different issues. The Region's letter refers to "downgradient" of their site but does not clarify downgradient in shallow aquifers, deep aquifers or what the hell they are rambling about. Just plain bulls*it  designed to bafflegab the councillors but unlikely to bafflegab CPAC hence why they aren't talking to us. 

Isn't that convenient that no tarmacadam was found last year further west underneath Church St. I still don't believe tarmacadam was found underneath Church St. beside Uniroyal/Lanxess. What they likely found was benzene and a few other Uniroyal migrating chemicals. The onus is on them to prove otherwise and so far they've only proven how deceptive and manipulative they and the MECP are. Nothing new there folks. 

IS THE CAMBRIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL COVERUP HAPPENING IN GUELPH AS WELL?

 It sure looks like it based upon the data I've received recently. I had a map dated January 2020 showing outdoor soil vapour results in the residential subdivision downgradient from the former IMICO (Internatioal Malleable Iron Co.) . Those results are horrific in places especially along Lawrence Ave. and Victoria Rd. on the north-east side of the subdivision. What exactly was the Cambridge coverup all about? It was about toxic trichloroethylene (TCE) fumes and others entering residential homes downgradient of Northstar Aerospace plus at least one other industrial source area. That TCE migrated in shallow groundwater heading towards the Grand River and along the way entered homes via vapour intrusion through basement walls.  In Cambridge the extent of the groundwater and vapour intrusion did not become public knowledge until decades after the fact. There is absolutely no excuse for the very same thing to be occurring in Guelph and it is occurring to the absolute shame of both the City of Guelph and the province of Ontario (Min. of Environment). .

Recently I received results of indoor air testing in a home on Lawrence Ave. I find the results shocking. It isn't just the TCE results it's the results from everything else including other very toxic substances such as benzene, perchlorethylene (PCE), pinene, MEK, toluene etc.  Along with these known toxins are at least another half dozen chemicals that can do harm. These indoor air results rise and fall based upon weather, time of year, extent of open windows for ventilation etc. not to mention the state of large or small cracks in one's basement walls. Rest assured if water can get through then vapours will have zero difficulty. These vapours can be life and health threatening especially over time. Our authorities are not acting with the urgency required.