The unholy foursome of Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess have never been up front with the public. I expect however that in private sessions (which are most common) with the Min. of Environment (MECP), Woolwich Township, Region of Waterloo etc. they likely have been. All four made it plain early on that Elmira/Woolwich would be worse off without the economic engine which a chemical company is. Wages, raw materials, water and power consumption are all paid for by a manufacturer.
Hence here we are in the thirty-fifth year since Uniroyal Chemical shut down our drinking wells (1989). The "cleanup" has not been successful and in fact it seems clearer and clearer to me that for all intents and purposes Lanxess really aren't trying that hard and the MECP is O.K. with it. Afterall if there are no sanctions for failure (none so far) then why should Lanxess continue to spend full bucks on pumping and treating? I believe they have degraded their offsite pumping to the point of merely trying to stop the spread of the contamination. While that has been the intent with on-site pumping & treating for decades they are supposed to be pumping & treating to the point of both containment and actual cleanup of the off-site aquifers. By Conestoga Rover's own figures that would require closer to 150 litres per second versus the current 64-68 l/sec. total off-site well pumping.
Lanxess will likely continue telling the public one thing while keeping our authorities in the loop. This also allows our political authorities the cover of "plausible deniability". For example if the company decides to cut and run all our politicians will publicly cry foul and claim that they did not know it was coming.
We would all die without drinking water. I have never seen a more potent case of negligence. The contamination is one thing, however the lack of transparency and testing and accountability or cleanup and the extreme slowness allowed/caused by the fake environmental people is downright unconscionable! I think the consultants are just the absolute worst part of this mess! Other than Alan Marshall all the so called experts and consultants are either inactive or the worst case being actual "GREENWASHERS" and they are on the wrong side of the facts and thus reality and humanity.
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