Thursday, November 7, 2024

HMM SHOULD I PREJUDGE TONITE'S PUBLIC MEETING AS A DOG & PONY SHOW?

 

7 pm. at the Memorial Centre (Arena) on Snyder Ave.  Yes I think based upon the 35 year history of deception, delays and obfuscation I am fully entitled to assume the worst. That said however the good news is that I am quite willing to be wrong or even surprised on the matter. Afterall go in expecting the worst and there's at least a chance that it won't be as bad as you expect.

Three issues are on the table although our authorities are pretending that there are only two. The THREE are soil and sediment contamination, a truck by-pass around Elmira's downtown and so called industrial development lands. Now nobody wants to discuss the migrating contamination, past, present or future from Uniroyal Chemical's toxic behaviour. This migration was via air, groundwater, surface water and soil vapours. The easiest way to deny this is simply by refusing to do legitimate, professional sampling by third party experts unrelated to either the MECP, Lanxess or GHD (consultants) . Of course not Stantec either based upon their financial and professional relationship with Lanxess 

All three of these issues need to be addressed separately. None of this combining two or three of them together and pretending to give equal priority to the never ending leaking contamination into the Canagagigue Creek. Maybe that gamesmanship is part of the whole scheme. Agree to clean up one or two alleged "hotspots" in the Creek first and then a few years later when the Creek is still contaminated it can be blamed on the new industrial/commercial development, and or gas and oil from truck traffic or even contaminants from rubber tires wearing on the new highway by-pass. 

Professional liars require muddying conditions in order to blur the truth to their liking.

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

ELMIRA BY-PASS - THE WEST SIDE OF TOWN OPTION

 

According to the Region of Waterloo this is a viable option.in order to keep trucks out of the narrow and congested downtown. From south to north one turns left at Listowel Rd. (#86) which is at the traffic light at the south end of Elmira. To the right is Union St. which would be the start of two other options albeit both on the east side of town. So once one has turned left when coming in from St. Jacobs or Kitchener-Waterloo one continues westwards to the traffic light at Floradale Rd. A right turn then has one travelling northwards towards the round about at Church St. . Straight through the roundabout hus staying on Floradale Rd. until the first crossroad which is Reid-Woods Dr. A right turn there takes one eastwards right across to Arthur St (#85) where a left turn will take you northwards . Elmira is now behind you with the downtown sucessfully avoided. 

Now unlike the east side route which requires miles of road building as well as a major new bridge across the Canagagigue Creek  for one of the east side options, the west side option only requires upgrades and likely an extra lane or so for tractor trailers. No new roads and certainly no new bridges . The cost of the west side option is tiny compared to the east side options of which one ending just at the west side of the current bridge over the Canagagigue Creek at Church St. appears bizarre and difficult for tractor trailers to traverse. The other east side option will be the most expensive by far traversing both the Canagagigue plus floodplains regularly flooded by the Creek as well as traversing over and likely intentionally burying Uniroyal Chemical toxins such as Agent Orange, dioxins, DDT, NDMA, lindane, PAH and more.

The west side option is the no brainer however that likely will not please the north end industries and their reliance on incoming and outgoing trucks who will most benefit from an expensive, environmentally damaging east side By-Pass.  This will be a private gain for the few paid for by major public funds of the many to their disadvantage .  

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

LOCATION OF ELMIRA BY-PASS HAS BEEN A DONE DEAL FOR MANY, MANY YEARS

 



DOES WOOLWICH BULL*+#T  LOOK OR  SMELL LESS OFFENSIVE THAN EVERYBODY ELSE'S?

Apparently they think so. They think that theirs smells like roses. Roses in springtime.  Beautiful roses in a flower shop.  Please don't disabuse them about that. They have very thin skin. Afterall at politician's school they are taught that it is better to give than to receive. It is the duty of all elected or appointed officials to keep their lying skills in good practice and form. There are so many things that we the people are simply too weak and stupid to be able to understand hence we delegate all the difficult decisions to others who have stepped up and said "ME, ME, ME ... I want to be on the gravy train"  oops I mean "ME, ME, ME I want to be the one in charge making all the decisions of course always in the public interest.

Four and a half years ago there was discussion and reports in and around Woolwich and the Region of Waterloo regarding adjusting boundaries, Township geographical limits, location of new industrial lands, small additions to prime agricultural land and of course the proposed location of the ELMIRA BY-PASS. I have several maps showing the BY-PASS running up the east side of Elmira just to the east of Lanxess Canada. The proposed roadway runs through both the Stroh and Martin farms. 

Yet this latest paperwork from the Region talks about three options with only one of the three following the route through two east side farms, covering up the migrated contamination from Uniroyal Chemical and crossing the Canagagigue Creek. Of course costs will be much higher on the east side but most of them will be borne by the taxpayer allowing Bio-En, the Pet Food plant and other north end industries better truck access without them paying the bulk of costs. Such a deal plus it helps save Lanxess hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs as well.

Basically it's a win-win-lose with as usual the public, local citizens, taxpayers all losing. This is exactly what we hire politicians to do. Squeeze the public for private benefits. 


Monday, November 4, 2024

LATEST NEWS ON THE PROPOSED/ALLEGED ELMIRA BY-PASS

 This latest and different news comes from today's Waterloo Region Record.  The story written by Bill Jackson is titled "Two-part EA initiated for Elmira truck bypass, Hwy. 85 upgrades" So much for on-line links, web addresses and other assorted bullsh*# that simply weeds out the older, more issue knowledgeable citizens from the younger, less involved but more computer savvy citizens. There apparently are now THREE different options to get the truck traffic out of downtown Elmira. Four if you count the "Do Nothing" Option. The options include a by-pass up the west side of Elmira using existing roads such as Listowel Rd. westwards to Floradale Rd. followed by a right turn northwards on Floradale Rd. That route continues to Reid Woods Dr. where a right turn (eastwards) takes you back to Arthur St. Then left (north) onto Arthur and you have by-passed Elmira in its' entirety.  The next option is straight up (i.e. north) Union St. where it starts at Arthur & Listowel Rd.  In other words if you're already heading north from St. Jacobs on Arthur St. then turn right onto Union St. at the south end of Elmira. Now Union St. northwards ends at Erb St. right beside Uniroyal/Lanxess Canada. Union St. would have to be extended approximately 150 metres to Church St. right near the west end of the bridge crossing the Canagagigue Creek. Then cross the Creek (west to east side) and a new road to the left probably just past the cemetery on the left would be built to run north to Kennig Place. The third option is the stinker that runs from Union St. south through the Stroh and Martin farms and ends up on the east side of Lanxess at Church St. or Hwy # 86. From there it too would have to be extended further northwards and hook into Kennig Place. This is the "stinker" option as it ruins two farms, is more expensive as it has to cross over a ton of low lying Canagagigue floodplain and also buries Uniroyal Chemical's dioxins, DDT, Agent Orange etc. under tons of fill and asphalt none of which will stop it from migrating into the Camagagigue Creek and further downstream to continue its seven decades plus of damage. 

Saturday, November 2, 2024

SO WHAT ARE MY POLITICAL BELIEFS & UNDERSTANDINGS?

 I believe that 85% of the people who run for political office are inherently self-centred and dishonest.  I believe that 90% who succeed and get elected are inherently self-centred and dishonest. I believe that of those who have stayed and run for reelection  95% are self-centred and dishonest. Generally honest people do not want to be surrounded by professional, liars, cheats and thieves and if they've served one term they have learned how corrupt the whole process is.

Generally speaking I believe that dishonesty is not inherent to one party versus another. Yes my leanings are more left than right however I am aware of honest people who support Progressive Conservatives here in Ontario. They even clench their teeth and support (sort of) Doug Ford our current a**hole (my biased!) premier..  On the other hand perhaps the PCs clear, pro business bias simply reflects some of their honest beliefs that money and the economy are everything and you only tinker with capitolism at your extreme peril. Perhaps many Liberals are equally as pro business biased but simply speak softer and with more alleged humanity and caring for the less fortunate.  Hence in order of overall honesty and decency I might rank the Greens first, NDP second, Liberals third and Conservatives last.  Now do keep something in mind. That listing/ranking of mine is basically in reverse order of time spent as the government of the day. In other words it may be much easier for the Greens and NDP to appear better and superior but they have never had to balance a budget, cut funding or make very difficult governance decisions. 

In other words I am tossing the Liberals and Conservatives a bone here. Compromise often is neither pretty nor decent but is a major part of politics.

Friday, November 1, 2024

THIS IS WOOLWICH & REGIONAL POLITICAL CORRUPTION AT IT'S WORST AND MOST ARROGANT


 So this is how regional Council pays back loyal mayors who have swallowed regional initiatives not in the public interest. This is how the Region of Waterloo reward Sandy and Woolwich Council for not making a big stink over our Transfer Station being removed. This is how they reward Woolwich for our in town police force no longer being here.  Lawn watering bans, garbage pickup every second week only : what other services have been cut all the while our taxes are rising? Thank the Region of Waterloo.

Next Thursday at 7 pm. in the Woolwich Memorial Centre we will hear plans to reduce truck traffic in downtown Elmira. I doubt that anybody is actually opposed to that idea. It's how they want to do it that rankles. For 35 years Uniroyal Chemical and corporate successors have run the alleged "cleanup" of our groundwater, air, soils and surface water (Canagagigue Ck.). The air is better, the soils are not, the groundwater still is not fit to drink and to date not one shovel full of Uniroyal's toxic sludges downstream in the Creek has been removed. Not one shovelful. Lots of studies, lots of deceptions and lots of lies.

Please come out this coming Thursday, November 7 and see your professional liars (politicians) in action. They are smooth, they are trained and they are practiced. So what if the Creek, it's rural inhabitants the further downstream Grand River and  the soils and sediments remain contaminated for yet another 75 years. The politicians have done their job. They have talked their way out of a proper cleanup. They have lied and lied in order to minimize the harm that has been done and continues to be done.   


Thursday, October 31, 2024

MORE FARMLAND GOING FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BUT NOW IN ELMIRA

We were told a few years back that the plan was for industrial/commercial development along side Lanxess and through the Stroh and Martin farms.  Of course the sweetener has always been the long needed and overdue "Elmira Bypass". The plans by the Township appeared to have Union St. split off in a north-east direction near Southfield Dr.  (New Jerusalem Rd.).  This new proposed Elmira By-Pass would go northwards up the east side of Elmira and run through both the more southern Martin farm and then through the Stroh farm.

Now of course these plans were kept quiet for many years (decades?) thus likely prompting Woolwich & Mayor Shantz's bizarre behaviour in 2014 when they turned upon their volunteer CPAC committee. CPAC had chosen to publicize and focus on the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) rather than on the DNAPL coverup, in the fall of 2014. Woolwich never truthfully told CPAC why they refused to reappoint them despite proper and appropriate applications which Mayor Shantz through out and demanded be done over again. It was an intentional and contemptible provocation and insult to CPAC which of course Chemtura and the corrupt Min. of Environment strongly favoured. Now we have a better idea why.

Normal people would view these manipulations, lies and devious behaviour as signs of political corruption.  Of course politicians will never admit to such a thing but then they are trained, professional liars after all.

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

LET THE ELMIRA BYPASS BULLSH*% BEGIN!

 Well when I first attempted to look at the alleged "pre-recorded presentation" described in the Woolwich Observer's "Public Notice  Arthur Street Improvements and Potential Elmira Bypass" it wasn't there. Now a few days later and it is.  Now there appears to be some pre-recorded words of wisdom as well although I haven't found them yet. 

The Map provided on-line is interesting in that the Region of Waterloo are showing the Elmira By-Pass going up both sides, east and west, of Elmira . So is the plan one or the other or both???  It's clear as mud. What however is clearer is the Township's crap of a few years back in which they clearly showed their preference to run the Elmira Bypass up the east side of Elmira basically using the Stroh and Martin farms for commercial development while burying Uniroyal Chemical's  liquid toxic wastes underneath the new, proposed roadway.  What a deal for Uniroyal/Lanxess and I just have to ask the question: Who and how many at the Township have been paid off for this "solution" to a corporate pig who have spread their toxic wastes far and wide via air, groundwater and surface water? Has anyone else locally also profited improperly for these long term political machinations?

Lastly all ye who love the Region of Waterloo for their alleged green persona. Maybe their ready agreement to Non Disclosure Agreements with both the province and Wilmot Township over a 700 acre parcel of farmland are the mere tip of the iceberg. Do you really think that the Region have not sold out the public interest in the past as well as the present?    

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

SO A PUBLIC MEETING NEXT THURSDAY (Nov. 7/24) AT THE WOOLWICH COMMUNITY CENTRE. WILL IT BE A DOG & PONY SHOW?

 I first heard that expression years ago from a friend who attends various Financial presentations in which groups are trying to flog their particular financial products to the public. My weak recollection is that they make their money not so much on the financial appreciation of their products in the market place as much as on commission for each new investor they bring into the fold.

When it comes to Elmira environmental Dog & Pony shows our polluters and their protective authorities (politicians & bureaucrats)  are hard nosed experts. They produce some incredibly resourceful theories and ideas sometimes bordering on the edge of junk science and sometimes sailing miles past those borders. The ongoing RAC, TAG and now TRAC meetings are fine examples. They have talked about irrelevant asymptotic behaviour that simply does not apply,  they have denied Dr. Neil Thompson's (U. of Waterloo) chlorobenzene findings years afterwards (not at the time), and sold major reductions in both on-site and off-site pumping (i.e. hydraulic containment) that have more than guaranteed their failure to achieve the 2028 deadline.

Watch carefully as to how Woolwich and the Region of Waterloo carefully control the microphone. Watch as they pick and choose their own stooges to speak first, longest and most often. Watch them use Susan Bryant to commend the process around the plan to use the east side. She has been their tacit not explicit cheerleader for a very long time and continues to do so. All she wants is the hint of a small bone (token) from Lanxess that they will at least do some minor/tiny cleanup downstream in the Canagagigue so she can claim victory in her decades long efforts. After all neither she nor anybody intelligent can claim victory in the alleged cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers. The latest date being bandied about is 2060 which more than guarantees the expiry of each and every Elmira citizen who spoke up way back in the late 80s and early 90s. 



Monday, October 28, 2024

WOOLWICH & LANXESS BULL@#*^ CONTINUES WITH ANOTHER FAUX ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (i.e. BYPASS)

 Well clearly lying is a major component of our political landscape whether municipal, regional, provincial or federal. Federally Trudeau and the Liberals are suggesting that just recently Canadians have felt that immigration numbers have been far too excessive . Seriously? Anyone trying to get a good job has known for decades that there are far too many crappy jobs out there (as in hundreds) for every good job that pays well, leads somewhere and isn't going to cost you your life or health. Then there are those who've been saving for years to buy their own home watching every year as the prices rise faster than their savings do for the downpayment. Health care and timely health care is also a problem. Immigrants just like long term citizens get sick and require health care as well. Roads and highways are more crowded albeit the caliber of drivers continues to drop. Perhaps that is not solely due to immigrants but also includes shoddy Min. of Transportation efforts and results.

This November 7 at 7 pm. there will be a public meeting at the Community Centre Room of the Woolwich Memorial Centre on Snyder Ave. It will allow our municipal and regional professional liars the opportunity to deflect the intentional burying of contaminated soils on the Stroh farm mostly albeit also parts of the Martin farm underneath the proposed Elmira By-Pass Rd. and accompanying commercial development. This deflection will focus on lessening truck traffic in downtown Elmira (a good thing) while minimizing the damning discovery in 2014 by the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee of major contamination having been discharged and leaking eastwards onto the Stroh farm. These areas are most probably a sink of DDT and dioxins that will continue to discharge to the Canagagigue Creek and poison both downstream farmers and wildlife.

Do not forget that it is our regional and provincial liars who have been caught red handed lying and dodging responsibility and accountability regarding the 700 acre amassing of prime farmland for some vague industrial delight over in Wilmot Township. When politicians get a bad idea it intends to grow, fueled by lies, distortions and wishful thinking that always benefits the already wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.

Saturday, October 26, 2024

THE COMPLETE SHAME OF OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM. THIS INCLUDES THE DISHONOURABLE ROBERT REILLY, FRASER KELLY & OTHERS LOCALLY

 O.K. maybe it's no worse than the American judicial system. Unfortunately that is a very low bar to compare to. In the U.S. there has been a history of always "solving" crimes done by Black citizens. Especially violent and or heinous crimes. The "solution" has simply been to find some kind of reasonably possible Black person, charge them, convict them and send them to jail. Minor issues of proper identification, improper interrogation including duress, lack of sleep, intimidation are simply ignored. Reasonable alibis and evidence either being ignored by juries or not shared with the defence have been commonplace.

Last evening the Fifth Estate aired a program on the charges being faced by Frank Stronach the now 92 year old billionaire founder of Magna  (auto parts). Apparently Mr. Stronach had very serious skills as a machinist, designer, engineer (??) which he parlayed from a garage workshop into a multinational manufacturing giant. To view him as a success story of a originally poor immigrant from Austria is appropriate. He has been honoured as a member of the Order of Canada.

Unfortunately according to the Fifth Estate Mr. Stronach has other characteristics of a much less  commendable nature. Allegedly he is a sexual predator preying on young, attractive females. Whether or not he has some kind of psychological need to rack up a high score of women he has had sex with; his behaviour according to many has been beyond abhorrent and well into criminal behaviour. Last evening's story stated that within some of his business establishments he is well known for hitting on new, young female employees and that many are warned by their fellow employees to stay well away from him at all times. Again allegedly his behaviour has included drugging women and raping them.

To a certain degree I found his rebuttal to the Fifth Estate regarding these charges laid by the Crown  to be odd, almost as if he were a third party only barely involved in the matter at all. Now that alone does not preclude innocence nor prove anything. Merely my observation. To date thirteen women have made criminal complaints against him. Again to my mind that certainly adds weight and gravity to all the complainants and either shows a pattern of behaviour by him or an amazing conspiracy to either want him in jail or to harm him otherwise.

One of the women was interviewed on camera and stated that she years or decades after the fact made a full and formal complaint to the Toronto (?) Police Force. She felt that the interviewers were skeptical about her claims against Mr. Stronach.  She also claimed that they never contacted her again with further questions or requests for clarification. Years passed and now she feels better knowing how many other women have come forward with similar allegations.

The Rule of Law states that all persons are treated equally before the law. I personally know that that is utter and complete BULLSHIT and always has been. We had a local sexual predator of young women over in Puslinch many years ago. He drugged women and had sex with them. One young girl died and he spent years in prison because of it.  This criminal was not an Order of Canada member. He was not a billionaire. His daughter was not a former member of Parliament. He did not hob nob with Prime Ministers nor U.S. Presidents.  Mr Stronach appears to be utterly confident that he will not spend a day in prison. Maybe he's innocent or maybe he knows more about our political/judicial system than we do.  

       

Friday, October 25, 2024

WELL I MISSED POSTING YESTERDAY AFTER MY PRESENTATION AT A CHURCH OVER IN GUELPH

 

It was my 75th birthday and gosh did I have a great day. I'll go so far as to say that the entire day was perfect except for the Maple Leafs last evening whom I watched for five minutes and then turned off. The organizers of the speaking event at the church showed a Documentary about Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira and then I answered questions regarding the issues, the disappointments and the few successes. I estimate that there were perhaps sixty people present and their questions and concerns were impressive. I would suggest that many in attendance had their eyes opened regarding  how our various governments operate and do their best to talk the talk while being completely immobile.  Walk the walk is simply not on the to do list of almost all our levels of government if there is any way whatsoever to avoid it.

After the talk and question and answer session at the Church I came home, had lunch and went out to my next engagement which was a crokinole session with a friend. That also went perfect as despite what I expected to be inattention on my part as I revelled in a surprise home visit of my daughter, combined with the high of the morning's talk/discussion, combined with hitting what I view as a watershed birthday (75) turned out to be one of my better days behind the crokinole cue. Then as a bonus we played two games of "fingers" crokinole whereby we set the cues down and hit the buttons with our fingers only. That too went well for a fellow who basically hasn't played fingers regularly in over fourty years .

My son and daughter-in-law came over for dinner and the evening was wonderful. You know there are times when this getting older really isn't that bad. Of course all is subject to a combination of good luck and good management health wise and often good luck trumps good management.  

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

I DON'T UNDERSTAND

 The most recent statistic I read was that currently 45% of Canadian citizens have now or already have had cancer of one kind or another. Also while I'm unsure of the percentage of adults who smoke I do know that it is significantly lower than it used to be. Looking around me I see family and friends being diagnosed with various serious cancers none of whom have ever smoked. Now there are other lifestyle choices which can cause cancer such as excessive alcohol consumption and too much exposure to sunshine. Just recently Health Canada has significantly lowered the so called safe number of alcoholic drinks per week from about 15 down to 2 or 3.  Two or Three per week is an incredibly low number and while I would worry that anyone who felt the need for three drinks a day may have an alcohol problem I find three in a week a tiny amount.

So what the heck is going on? Well speaking from my point of view it's obvious. Governments lie to their citizens constantly just about everything. They lie for their own advantage or they lie just to stay in practice for when a really big whopper is required. That time is here. With declining smoking among adults and soaring cancer rates what is happening is that we are being poisoned by the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink. Our atmosphere, our rivers and oceans and our farm fields have been inundated with liquid industrial wastes. Some of them may be called herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers but they are toxic never the less. Whether the Lake Erie algal blooms or the ones at the Woolwich Dam just north of Elmira, these blooms produce toxic bacteria from excess nitrogen from the fertilizers ending up in our waterways.

So governments have to do what they do best which is to protect the wealthy, profit takers among us. They do this by lying. Distract citizens with red herrings. Sure smoking is bad for you as is heavy drinking.  However removing them from your life guarantees you absolutely nothing.  All the other toxic exposures will get you eventually anyways. 

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

MY UPCOMING TALK WILL FOCUS ON GOVERNMENT ENVIRONMENTAL FAILURES, REFUSALS & DECEPTION

 Phony scoping of the issues, contaminants and geographical spread of the contamination is part of the Deception listed above in the title. Failures and Refusals in the title speak more to government's inherent dishonesty with the public. Government are a successful wall between polluters harming and killing citizens and those citizens taking the law into their own hands. Basically governments and their police forces are there to protect corporate profits obtained illegally via disobeying environmental laws. The problem arises when the corporate polluters break the laws and our authorities use their discretion to go easy on them, even those who have caused deaths whether by short term exposures to toxins or longer term exposures resulting in fatal cancers. Can you imagine here in Elmira back in 1989 if the Ontario Ministry of Environment wasn't present to absorb much of the anger and disgust of local citizens who had been lied to for decades regarding the safety of their drinking water?

Our governments have always spoken out of both sides of their mouths. They like to walk a thin line whereby they speak glowingly to business and industry about how they are the drivers of the economy and then reverse themselves when speaking to groups of citizens about how industry must comply with society's expectations and environmental demands and laws. The reality is when push comes to shove all governments roll over to business concerns. 

Delay is both government's and industries' best friend.  Uniroyal Chemical have literally saved hundreds of millions of dollars in needed cleanup cost both on and off their site in Elmira, Ontario.  But for governments and their police forces Uniroyal may very well have been run out of town on a rail.  Eventually they and their successors will depart leaving the mess behind for future generations. The same thing happened in Guelph with IMICO (International Malleable Iron  Company) and the current and future generations are and will  pay the health price of exposure to unremediated heavy metals, PCBs, VOCs and Petroleum Hydrocarbons. 

Shame on all our lying politicians and fellow travellors.  

Monday, October 21, 2024

THE PROBLEM WITH NATURAL ATTENUATION

 Misuse of the knowledge and misapplication of the technology. In other words if you are a dirty polluter with a DNAPL contaminated site then you are going to embrace any and all so called "natural attenuation" literature and or claims. This embracing could even include natural attenuation that works in fractured Bedrock Aquifers due to specific bacteria present that simply do not exist in Overburden sand and gravel aquifers. Natural attenuation is a broad expanse of differing chemical, physical and microbial processes that both together and individually can help to break down contaminants possibly even including chlorinated solvents.

Now of course natural attenuation no matter how effective even in the best of circumstances, under ideal conditions is hardly considered fast. That said current research is finding impressive reductions in Trichloroethylene (TCE) over a decade or more. These reductions in concentration may be from breakdown of TCE or even by enhanced degradation of TCE into cis DCE (dichloroethylene) and trans DCE as well as VC (vinyl chloride.  Further chemical degradation would lead to ethenes and ethanes .  These degradation products are generally much less toxic than TCE with the exception of VC. 

Hence there is studied natural attenuation which can be enhanced for example via soil amendments to stimulate specific bacteria that break down chlorinated solvents such as TCE. Or there is the Uniroyal Chemical style of natural attenuation on their site which is synonomous with the Do Nothing approach. Here those in charge (i.e. the polluter) throw up their hands, shrug their shoulders and say "Dang those chlorinated solvents. Nothing works on them."

When the fox is in charge of protecting (cleaning up) the henhouse the interests of the hens (residents & citizens) are of zero interest to the predator/polluter.

Saturday, October 19, 2024

FURTHER COMMENTS ON NATURAL ATTENUATION OF DNAPLS IN BEDROCK AQUIFERS

 

O.K. firstly a sharp reader will already have noticed something significant in the title above. This Master's degree requirement thesis is specific to DNAPLS in Bedrock! This research is NOT a comparison of Natural Attenuation between Bedrock Aquifers versus Overburden Aquifers. Overburden meaning sand, gravel, some silt and probably some kind of clay in an aquitard or two in the subsurface located above the Bedrock. Bedrock Aquifers do literally refer to sub-surface Bedrock whose fractures and openings are saturated with groundwater. Furthermore in the case of Guelph much of the shallower Bedrock consists of Dolomite made up of Calcium and Magnesium and more. The Bedrock Aquifers in Guelph as well as parts of Cambridge are located very close to the surface often with only a couple of metres of  Overburden above them. Here in Elmira the Overburden however starts at the surface and goes eighty to one hundred feet  (30 + metres)  below ground surface.

So according to this research paper there are multiple different physical, chemical and microbial processes taking place in the Bedrock which either degrade Trichloroethylene (TCE) to other compounds such as cis DCE, trans DCE, VC, or dechlorinate it hence removing the chlorine from the TCE ending up with non toxic hydrocarbons such as ethene and ethane. This does of course take decades but it seems to me to be faster than what I was led to understand here in Elmira. Now there are specific bacteria that live and grow in Bedrock that can break down TCE (dechlorinate it).  What I don't know yet is if these obviously pretty tough bacteria/microbes thrive in Bedrock conditions but are less available or effective in Overburden soils. If that is so then it explains the honest professionals stating in 2007 that DNAPL should be removed one way or the other up here in Elmira to speed up groundwater remediation.

 


Friday, October 18, 2024

TWO RECENT ENVIRONMENTALLY RELEVANT NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

 

The one is in today's Waterloo Region Record newspaper and is by Bob Burtt titled "Water needs should be the subject of debate". It advises that with so much growth planned, our groundwater plus Grand River will no longer be adequate and we will be looking to a pipeline to Lake Erie. The second is in yesterday's Woolwich Observer and is titled "Elmira's weedless goals were a sign of a time now long past" and describes public relations and marketing efforts by Uniroyal to sell their poisons further afield. 

Mr. Burtt's article raises a number of good points although I note that he has not discussed the sorry state of our aquifers today based upon long past industrial mishandling and dumping of toxic chemicals. Literally all our groundwater has some toxins including salt and glyphosate (Roundup) in it. Mr. Nurtt did acknowledge the salt issues. TCE contamination is common in Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge and Guelph.

The Observer article is good for two reasons. One we the readers have not been insulted by PR and bull#$*% from Lanxess about how wonderful they are today.  If I want that ongoing crap I will attend TRAC meetings. Secondly a number of local and former residents including Murray Haight, John Basler and Neil McKee have described the downsides of having Uniroyal Chemical in town including significant damage to the natural environment and wildlife. 

Well done Woolwich Observer. Someone has to counteract the ongoing PR campaign designed to yet again let Uniroyal/Lanxess off the hook they deserve to be on at least until after full remediation is completed.  



 

Thursday, October 17, 2024

I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE RAMIFICATIONS OF RECENT (?) DNAPL RESEARCH

 

The answer to the question to Dr. John Cherry and Dr. Beth Parker (U. of Waterloo at the time) as to whether DNAPL should be left in place or removed from the Uniroyal Chemical (Chemtura) site was very clear. This question was posed to them by Susan Bryant, Pat McLean, Wilf Ruland (hydro G) and myself in January 2007.  To the apparent horror and shock of the other three, the answer from both Profs was absolutely free phase DNAPL that is accessible should be removed in order to shorten by decades the cleanup time of the aquifers it is impacting. The return trip to Elmira by the four of us was very quiet and solemn. Only in hindsight did I realize that the intended purpose of the trip was to get the single holdout (myself) to reverse my position that the DNAPL should be removed sooner than later.

Now seventeen years later I am in the middle of reading a Master's degree thesis regarding DNAPLs and Natural Attenuation. This thesis has as usual been reviewed by many of the author's peers including Drs. Parker and Cherry! I personally have had a very dim view of Natural Attenuation over the decades from information provided to myself and other citizens that claimed that among other issues chlorinated solvents (DNAPLS) were highly resistant to bacteria/microbial breakdown in the subsurface. If you think about it chlorine in and of itself is an antibiotic used specifically to kill bacteria in drinking water hence it made sense that it would not succumb readily to bacterial breakdown itself. 

This thesis is looking at TCE specific breakdown by both biotic and abiotic breakdown meaning by biological breakdown including bacteria and abiotic or chemical breakdown in the subsurface. This research and studies have been underway for years by a combined group from the University of Waterloo and the University of Guelph.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

SURPRISE SURPRISE GUELPH INDUSTRIALISTS WERE NO MORE INTERESTED IN PUBLIC SAFETY & HEALTH THAN THOSE IN KICHENER-WATERLOO, CAMBRIDGE & ELMIRA

 

What do I base that statement upon? It is based upon a 2018 Master's Thesis submitted to the University of Guelph . The specific quote is on page 2 of the Introduction.  That quote is "In the City of Guelph, TCE and in some instances other chemicals have been detected at six urban water supply wells including Smallfield, Sacco, Carter, Emma, Membro and Edinburgh wells (Aquaresource Inc. and Stantec 2010). Two of the wells, Sacco and Smallfield, were taken offline in the early 1990s as a result of detection of low level Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) contamination (Kennel 2008)." My title above is further based upon  the fact that two of the advisers to the Masters student are Dr. Beth Parker and Dr. John Cherry, two preeminent groundwater researchers and two of my favourite hydrogeologists having met both personally in January 2007 and discussed DNAPLS at Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira with them.

Now I might add that the "other chemicals" above likely included breakdown products of Trichloroethene (TCE) such as cisDCE, trans DCE, vinyl chloride and maybe even a dash of tetrachloroethene (PCE). Of the six wells with TCE detections four of them are quite close to the former IMICO site. Talk about slamming the gate decades after the horses (TCE) has bolted! These four wellfields are the Edinburgh, Membro, Carter and Emma wellfields.

Here is a further peculiarity /coincidence between Elmira (Uniroyal) and Guelph (IMICO & others). Both are located extremely close to world class institutions studying groundwater contamination particularly including chlorinated solvents known as DNAPL chemicals such as chlorobenzene, TCE, chlorophenols etc. Despite this both cities seem wholly uninterested in getting world class UNBIASED information from these two world class institutions (U. of Waterloo, U. of Guelph). Are we to believe that both our provincial authorities (MECP) and municipal mayors and councillors are not looking out for the public interest but simply for their own?

 

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

SCOPING/MINIMIZING HAS CONTINUED IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD SOUTH OF IMICO IN GUELPH

 Last Saturday I had asked a number of questions regarding whether or not indoor air testing had been done yet on homes in the area of Hayes, Kingsmill, Menzies, Audrey and Lawrence Ave.  I am disappointed to advise that as per information of, at the very least a dubious nature,  the Guelph Mercury reported four years ago that a grand total of TEN homes would have indoor air testing offered to them . These ten homes were in locations allegedly closest to the outdoor soil gas vapour probes with readings of 250 micrograms per litre (and presumably higher??). Very, very strange considering that the criteria or Soil Vapour Screening Level (SVSL) for TCE is only 13.6 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) 

This is indeed even more serious scoping/minimizing of a very serious problem with the clear intent to limit the potential disaster that may have occurred and be occurring in this neighbourhood. I mentioned Saturday about the focus for sampling on Menzies, Audrey and Lawrence Ave. as well as a laneway between Lawrence Ave. and Victoria Rd. Between zero sampling of so many streets and homes in the TCE (trichloroethylene) affected areas combined with all of one gas probe sample once on Hayes Ave., our authorities have likely reduced the affected areas by more than 50%.  

This is not in the public interest. It is however in both the City of Guelph's interest as well as the Ministry of Environment's. Basically through deception and lying they are telling the public that this isn't a health disaster for many citizens it is merely a minor inconvenience for a few who may have  slipped between the cracks .

This article in the April 6, 2020 Guelph Mercury falsely states that 900 ug/m3 was the highest level found of TCE. In fact it was 2,520 ug/m3. The article also states that "...any health effects from TCE in the area were unlikely, and the risk of any vapour intrusion into any homes was low." The reporter advised that these two opinions came from the Ministry of Environment (MECP) and the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. Those are outrageous, wishful thinking, likely bulls*&^ statements given before any indoor testing has been done and before there is any determination of the integrity, lack of cracks or unsealed openings in the foundations of homes throughout the neighbourhood.  This is an older neighbourhood and utilities entering homes through the basements are possible vapour entry points as well as minor cracks in foundation walls and floors.   

Saturday, October 12, 2024

"SCOPING", THE ART OF MINIMIZING YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPOSIBILITIES RIGHT FROM THE START

 

Locally the focus here in Elmira has been selling the bulls*** idea that the only two contaminants in Elmira's groundwater requiring remediation are NDMA and chlorobenzene. The other 80-100 are given short shrift or no shrift at all. DDT, dioxins, chlorophenols, benzene, toluene and other petroleum hydrocarbons have been ignored allegedly because they will be "picked up" along with NDMA and chlorobenzene.  In fact DDT and dioxins won't be nor will undissolved LNAPL chemicals (gas, oil etc.) as undissolved (i.e. free phase) DNAPL chemicals (chlorophenols, chlorobenzenes, TCE, TCA, DCE etc.) also will not be. 

So what kind of scoping seems to be going on concerning the IMICO site in Guelph? Without commenting too much on the on-site scoping I can tell you that the 2017 and 2019 sampling of soil gas vapours in the subdivision between IMICO and the Eramosa River has very conveniently ignored way too many residential homes.  These include on Hayes and Kingsmill St. south of York Rd. and as well any homes or workplaces where human beings could be spending eight hours per day or more between York Rd. and Beverley St.  

Of the initial three gas probes in 2017, two had detected TCE (trichloroethylene) with one being well above the outdoor gas vapour screening level. Sampling occurred in June 2017 initially and has been followed with soil gas vapour sampling in 2019 with another fifteen gas probes spread through the community namely Menzies, Audry and Lawrence Ave. 

Those vapour readings are extremely concerning and I hope that our authorities have since taken action above and beyond sampling and report writing. Has the proposed indoor air sampling been done and have all neighbourhood residents been given all the results or is it the old bulls***  whereby each individual home owner are given their own indoor readings only thus preventing them from seeing the magnitude of the problem ? Finally as was done in the Bishop St. community in Cambridge have heavily vapour impacted homeowners been offered emergency shelter until their homes are safe to live in again?

Friday, October 11, 2024

BOTH TCE & DCE HAVE MIGRATED FROM IMICO (Beverley St.) TO SOME OF GUELPH'S DRINKING WATER WELLS

 

I was shocked not by the fact that volatile organic chemicals have flowed in the groundwater into some drinking wells in Guelph but that they would admit it in a technical document. The document is the June 12, 2020 Phase Two Environmental Site Assessment written by Jacobs (formerly CH2M HILL). Now that being said I have reread the relevant paragraphs and there appears to be some stickhandling going on (isn't there always!). Apparently Guelph's Membro, Park and Emma Wells have low levels of both TCE (trichloroethylene) and 1,2 DCE in them.  Now yes both these chemicals are beneath and throughout the IMICO property albeit in higher elevation Bedrock Aquifers than the Gasport Formation which is the primary source of municipal drinking water. However then we are advised that this Gasport Formation is hydraulically connected to a higher elevation Bedrock Aquifer called the Goat Island Formation which does have TCE and 1,2 DCE in it from the IMICO site.

SO... any chance our illustrious politicians, bureaucrats, "experts" and  hangers on would like to comment on vapour intrusion in the Kingsmill, Menzie, Audrey and Lawrence neighbourhood located between IMICO and the Eramosa River? I have seen a map showing soil vapours of chlorinated solvents including TCE, VC and PCE sometimes in excess of health criteria. The question of course is how many homes have these toxic vapours entering through basements and at what concentrations. Has this health threat been honestly investigated and the facts honestly disseminated to all the local residents?


Thursday, October 10, 2024

"THEY ALL LIE "

 The source of the quote above in the title is at the end of yesterday's post here in the Advocate.  Pat Potter was decades ahead of her time and she knew liars when she heard them. Among many claims to fame was her discovery of the P.C.B.s found at Smithville, Ont.. She also discovered a dump possibly inside an abandoned quarry with petroleum hydrocarbon wastes in it. I vaguely recall her mentioning the original source as possibly Imperial Oil. The problem for me was that I failed to take her quote "They all lie" literally. 

She literally meant that ALL the people responsible and authorized as either spoke persons or "experts" were going to lie to the public. They had already settled the broad outlines of what they were and were not willing to do, spend, blame etc. plus what they might be willing to concede was true. Essentially the narrative they had all agreed to in private was that public hysteria, outrage and anger had to be softened as much as possible. These emotions could lead to dire social upheavals including an overall loss of respect for politicians and our democratic form of government.

There's an old adage that Democracy while not perfect is still by far the best form of government. I would suggest that no manmade institution has ever been or ever will be perfect. Democratic governments have certainly exceeded many other forms of governance including despots, communism, monarchies etc. They have however also failed abysmally around the world. Any and all forms of government can and have been perverted by persons of ill will. These persons are generally inferior as human beings but superior as liars. I would suggest that this is what separates us from animals. We communicate and lie constantly especially those of us in positions of power and authority.

Think of the arrogance required to assume that only elected citizens be given all the facts. Only politicians and their allies allegedly are smart enough to make the tough decisions. These tough decisions include growth and development for growth's sake. The included lies are that growth pays for itself. Growth helps the economy. Growth helps municipalities have larger tax bases and on and on. 

Apparently both in Guelph and Elmira (actually everywhere) development is wonderful even on contaminated sites. Who knew? By intentionally stickhandling around a serious environmental investigation of the Stroh (& Martin) farm, Elmira (Woolwich Twn.) has green lighted commercial development including a highway By-Pass up and around the east side of Elmira. In Guelph plans are underway for affordable housing on the former industrial IMICO site on Beverley St.  Minor issues such as no first floor housing (2nd story and up) and no gardens being allowed on site unless they are raised gardens with the soil all brought in from off-site haven't stopped plans in their tracks as they should. That site is a mess just as the former Uniroyal site in Elmira is.

Not to fear however as the authorized to lie, cheat and steal persons including politicians are all on board. They will sell their anti-social plans to most of us. This will require lots of credentialism and "Qualified Persons" as well as a few co-opted citizens, various municipal committees, mayors and councillors to all be on board. Provincial agencies/ministries are also helpful to sell the highly odourous and slimy "truth" to us. Who do we believe? A few honest citizens or dozens and dozens of bought and paid for bureaucrats, government employees, elected officials etc.? At what point do we as citizens understand that we have been lied to by all levels of government routinely and continuously and that everybody else involved are simply along for the self-serving financial ride?  

  


Wednesday, October 9, 2024

MECP CORRUPTION APPEARS CONSISTENT

 Why would I even think that the MECP were less corrupt in their dealings with other contaminated sites and polluters? Wishful thinking I guess. I have read many technical documents relating to other contaminated sites both in Waterloo Region and in Guelph. There are many similarities including wilful blindness and a stupidly naive reliance upon voluntary compliance. Examples include Ciba-Geigy,  Cnd. General Tower and Northstar Aerospace in Cambridge, Sunar and Canbar in Waterloo and IMICO in Guelph. 

I believe that the MECP's criteria in and of themselves are less than satisfactory. I believe that their political masters (provincial governments) have mandated them to avoid opening cans of worms as much as possible. In other words if you don't sample soils, groundwater, air on a maligned site than how can you possibly ever declare it contaminated? Getting back to their criteria they are premised on the wholly unrealistic and frankly naive assumption that pollution is an "accident" and that if a company reports a spill, it is the very first one ever no matter how many decades they've been operating there. Therefore the Min. of Environment (MECP) can confidently sample and if for example they only test for the "spilled" chemical they may get lucky and have a low concentration below the Ontario Drinking Water Standards.

Hence no big problem to report upstairs or to the neighbours. In Guelph the IMICO site has been empty since the 1980s. On the surface at least. Below ground however things are moving. Groundwater generally flows south-east in some aquifers and possibly south-west in others. There are multiple aquifers including several in the Bedrock of varying permeability and transmissivity. 

Apparently to this day there are still LNAPLS in the sub-surface. A prudent person (i.e. not the MECP etc.) might assume that with all the chlorinated solvents on site that there are also DNAPLS most likely firmly entrenched and embedded in the fractures in the close to surface Bedrock. All of this is horrible news yet the City of Guelph are more than ready to turn the site into affordable housing and parkland. Shame on everybody until the site is substantially cleaner than it is right now.

Quoting the late, great Pat Potter  "THEY ALL LIE".

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

UNRELENTING INDUSTRIAL/COMMERCIAL/RESIDENTIAL PRESSURE FOR DEVELOPMENT LANDS STYMIES PROPER CLEANUP

 It's happening here in Elmira , it's happening in Guelph and it's likely happening in every city in southern Ontario as well. In Guelph it's all about getting Ministry of Environment approvals  to allow the sale of the former IMICO lands both for residential development and for alleged parkland. The MECP first have to permit a Record of Site Condition (RSC) before development can take place. This requires a certain amount of flexibility possibly up to the Olympic gymnastic level in order to be able to say that the property is clean enough for development. Here in Elmira the same nonsense only less has occurred as Woolwich Council and the Region of Waterloo have falsely claimed that the lands on the east side of Lanxess are not contaminated. This is to allow both the Elmira By-Pass to go up the east side as well as to permit commercial and industrial development on the former Stroh and Martin farms.

Once again the corruption is throughout the system. It requires municipal councils, regional councils and provincial ministries (MECP) all focused on growth at all costs to be able to push against local citizens' rights to clean air, water and food. While my focus will be on Lanxess Canada at my next talk I may also touch upon IMICO briefly as it is a horrendously polluted site that has been allowed to migrate, dilute and delay proper cleanup for decades.

Monday, October 7, 2024

PRESENTING WITH APPROPRIATE FANFARE: THE (UN)OFFICIAL PLAN

This is an only slightly tongue in cheek rendition of Lanxess's  upcoming plans to emerge relatively unscathed from their potential public relations nightmare. Keep in mind that the corporate world have long embraced the strategy of "managing" the crisis versus actually solving the problem.  Crisis resolution companies have sprung up specifically to fill this market niche required by naughty companies who have been caught red handed in less than stellar behaviour.

So Lanxess purchased a dirty polluting company who have made a mess of the local, natural environment be it the ground water, surface water, air, soils and sediments.  Obviously Lanxess bought it expecting to make a profit which meant that they needed guarantees up front from the alleged regulator the MECP whose job has transitioned from ordering appropriate cleanups to maintaining smooth operating conditions for new owners who will invest only a tiny amount of their profits back into "cleanup". Hence the MECP do not shut down even the dirtiest of polluters as long as they get at least a nominal public respect from them and a minimal financial input giving the appearance that they give a sh*&. They do not and neither does the MECP. 

The MECP will write yet another Control Order or whatever fancy, new name they have for it. It will have strong language insisting upon the sanctity of the natural environment and all living things within it including yappy, complaining human beings.  They will privately tell Lanxess which paragraphs are for public show and which ones are at least half serious. Keep in mind this whole charade of regulator versus polluter is for public consumption only. Lanxess will flex their financial muscles and tell the Ontario MECP where to go privately if the MECP get out of line by Lanxess's determination.  The where to go will be to court where Lanxess will spend the MECP rapidly into submission.

The whole process is a serious effort at good public relations. Neither governments nor their masters want the public to understand who is really in charge. Sure as hell it isn't the monkees that we send to council tables, legislatures or parliament. Again they are there for show and to support the whole scam. It was decided long ago that industrial pollution was simply the price to pay for entrepreneurs to risk their money producing marketable goods. They should not also have to encompass serious environmental costs just to make citizens and residents happy. Afterall why are specific provincial and federal politicians supported and paid for both over and under the table if not for them to produce results acceptable to industrial corporations. Those results include weak environmental laws with lots of loopholes and tricky wording. They also include strong government endorsements alleging environmental compliance and honesty where none exists.  

 


Saturday, October 5, 2024

EVEN CHILDREN ARE SACRIFICED ON THE ALTER OF POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY

 Who might I be talking about here? How about the Waterloo Region District School Board and the Ron Archer affair? To the best of my knowledge teacher Mr. Archer was subjected to the "Pass The Trash" policies of the school board at the time. This meant that as student and parent complaints dogged him from one school to the next he was simply transferred to a new school where school authorities most likely lied to outraged parents by suggesting that oh no there were absolutely zero complaints in his record suggesting inappropriate behaviour, words and touching. Of course that story stopped after his conviction and jail time. Yes since then other teachers and at least one principal have been charged with sexual offenses and removed from WRDSB schools.

Then we have Woolwich Township whose mayor is a former Chair of the School Board (WRDSB) i.e. Chair of the Trustees . Sandy of course is not the first psuedo politician to start at the Trustee level and rise through municipal politics and further (think Liz Witmer). During MECAC alleged deliberations  several years back Sandy actually had the nerve to raise the confrontation between myself and a teacher that occurred almost simultaneously with the Ron Archer affair (early. mid & late 90s). Sandy of course misrepresented those facts as she is wont to do from time to time. 

Back to Woolwich Township who to my knowledge have done absolutely nothing past or present to protect children swimming in the Martin home made, in ground swimming pool. A man made diversion known as the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) was built in the early fall of 1983 which connected both ground and surface water from Uniroyal Chemical into Martin's Creek which had a small diversion on it to replenish the water in the Martin swimming pond. 

Finally we have the former Bolender Landfill children's attraction of a Water Park. The location at the north end of the Park seemed odd when the boundaries of the Landfill have always been open to speculation. In fact soil samples taken prior to the construction showed "organics" which is the term usually used for decayed and decaying food stuffs. There are also word of mouth descriptions from nearby long term residents as to where they saw garbage buried. Oh and of course this municipal dump also accepted Uniroyal and other local industrial wastes.

All in all our local authorities have to my mind made their priorities clear and they certainly are not the children. 


Friday, October 4, 2024

IS THERE A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTRY SOMEWHERE?

 The current Environmental Registry is not adequate. Supposedly if you check on it regularly you will find ahead of time upcoming environmental changes, issues, hearings etc. Lovely but still inadequate.

What I would like to see is an Environmental Registry listing past complaints, charges, convictions, investigations, cleanups and or other environmental work performed . This Registry would/should be a geographically based such that for example a citizen of Cambridge can look up all environmental spills, cleanups and investigations etc. within the jurisdiction of Cambridge. 

Here in Elmira alone we would find a number of surprises for many people. The extra, ongoing work at Varnicolor Chemical (now Elmira Pump) is but one such example. Their pump & treat system was expanded in order to pump groundwater from Motiveair behind their property for remediation. Also ground contaminated by Varnicolor ,behind Motiveair, was excavated. All this was done on the quiet. Shame to Woolwich Twn. and most especially to the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP). There have also been a number of gas stations remediated locally and more.

Knowledge is power which is exactly why municipal governments and the MECP deny public facts and knowledge to the public. They do not want us to know how severely contaminated our town is and has been. Even our local health units should have  and sould share this information if they have it. There is an inadequate registry known as ERIS. Nothing there about Varnicolor or many other local polluters.

Thursday, October 3, 2024

WHINY WOOLWICH DON"T LIKE "THEIR" TOES STEPPED ON.

 Woolwich have an Integrity Commissioner either by that name or another. So did/does Putin, Hitler, Ghaddafi, Amin, Saudi Arabia ...well you get the picture. Appearances matter especially among the uneducated, untalented and woefully uninformed.  Or in other words among the electorate.

Woolwich roared when they were " investigated" even oh so gently by our authorities, repeatedly. Sometimes quality or lack thereof in investigations demands multiple attempts by various bodies to try to paper over the obvious cracks and gaps in the so called investigations. In fact I would humbly nominate Canada as a potential world leader in Mickey Mouse investigations . If talk equaled real investigations then Canada certainly is a world leader. Just look at the junk science that's been done up here in Dogpatch (excuse me Woolwich) since 1989. Actually even prior to 1989 as the Ministry of Environment, Woolwich Twn. and the Region of Waterloo all reassured Elmira citizens that their water supply was fully protected from Uniroyal Chemical's greed, laziness and negligence. 

Woolwich have since moved heaven and earth, not to regain our local, clean drinking water but to shut down opposition . They have even aided and abetted Uniroyal co-opted citizens helping guarantee them perpetual seats at the table, one way or the other. People like that are known as "controlled opposition" and the advantage for polluters and liars is that they are indeed controlled. They have received benefits tangible and intangible but benefits nevertheless to be "good" boys and girls. With full knowledge of these  benefits Woolwich have appointed them repeatedly to UPAC, TAG and TRAC. Eventually likely after it's too late Woolwich and their toadies will be exposed.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

SLEAZY OR JUST EVERYDAY CONTEMPT OF CITIZENS BY WOOLWICH MAYOR & COUNCILLORS?

 

O.K. in hindsight I am willing to admit that Julie Ann Herteis probably by far was not the worst councillor Woolwich has ever suffered through.  There are reams of smarter, more worldly councillors who had both a mean streak and a dishonest streak that I don't believe that Julie Ann has.  Nevertheless appointing her to a temporary councillor position might seem peculiar under many circumstances. If Woolwich Council in replacing Scott Hahn's sudden resignation had simply said "We have the right and the authority to unilaterally make this appointment (Julie Ann) and that's that." then quite frankly myself and most might have complained of favourtism etc. for a full five minutes. Instead Woolwich Council lied like dogs and went through a huge process of taking applications, demanding written biographies and insisting upon a public spectacle whereby ten very talented and credentialed individuals stood up and made a speech about why they were qualified and wanted the interim councillor's  job.

Ooops let me amend that. There were nine applicants who went the full distance plus Julie Ann who did her own thing. In one sense I have to respect her refusal to play the game exactly as Mayor Shantz and Counillors wanted it. She did not dress up at all. Blue jeans, running shoes, plain shirt etc.. She did not make a five or ten minute speech. She did not brag about her past accomplishments. She stated that she had "experience" as a councillor (one term) which she did and then lost at reelection time.

Meanwhile her competitors included business owners, professionals, PHds, all dressed formally, who made lengthy speeches as requested. They gave their curriculum vitaes and spoke of their love of Woolwich Township and public service. Most were clearly exceptional individuals who could have handled being a municipal councillor with ease. Julie on the other hand, whom I have since learned is smarter and more accomplished than I knew, struggled as a councillor. Hey we all have our strengths and weaknesses.

Councillors began voting. Good Lord but at that they weren't even terribly subtle. Julie was by far favoured for the position from the start. Well let me clarify. She wasn't favoured at the start of voting. No that minor inconvenience had already been eliminated. Julie was handpicked for the position before the process began. The process was all for show and Council however hadn't gotten all their ducks together or they would have made the voting last longer than it did. Wham, bam thank you Mam but Julie is the new short term councillor. I expect that most of the other applicants also figured out pretty quickly that they'd been used. They'd been lied to in that none of them were ever going to get the position. They all went through a public process that was simply designed to deceive the public. 

Woolwich Township still continue to behave in that fashion. It's called TRAC and it's equally disgusting.  

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

LEGITIMIZING FAILURE OR PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG

This is what  authorities do. Unlike the rest of us who make errors  and both acknowledge them and pay the consequences, our authorities do neither. Firstly they lie either bluntly about their failures or they gild the lily by suggesting that in fact it really was a success for the following ridiculous reasons. Then, post failure they rewrite plans, documents, procedures or whatever is necessary to make the failure prettier and more palatable. They will always find the mythical rainbow at the end of their screwups.

The province of Ontario mandated 2028 cleanup to drinking water standards of our Elmira groundwater is simply the most obvious and glaring failure. It has been admitted to by Chemtura, Lanxess and MECP since 2016 and 2017. Of course over the last five years there have been lots of excuses suggesting acts of God, misfortune and other impossible to forsee factors. These have included "back diffusion",  the extremely low drinking water standard for NDMA (.009 ppb.), "asymptotic behaviour", lunar eclipses and ingrown toenails . Oh alright but if Lanxess, their consultants GHD or the Ministry (MECP)  had suggested those last two would you have jumped on them as quickly as you did me?

Here is what Lanxess and fellow liars have not admitted to:

Lack of on and off-site pumping

Lack of on-site DNAPL cleanup

Lack of off-site source removal

Lack of overall on-site source removal

Lack of strong, unbiased, non-deferential citizens on RAC, TAG & TRAC 

The new paperwork will be aided and abetted by Lanxess's partners in pollution namely the MECP and Woolwich Township. It will include position statements, new remediation plans, new Control Orders or equivalents and new public consultation always fully controlled by the mayor and CAO and butt kissing councillors. Of course nothing about the cleanups of water, sediments or soils will be improved, merely the further delays "justified". 

Monday, September 30, 2024

HOW MUCH DID WOOLWICH COUNCIL & FRIENDS LEARN THROUGH 2015 and 2016?

 

Well they certainly learned that they are not bulletproof. They learned that their disgusting and unethical and even illegal behaviours have consequences. They were investigated by the Ombudsman, the Integrity Commissioner, MECAC, provincial and Superior Courts in Kitchener and the media. Likely the media hurt the worst. Notice that councillors Scot Hahn and Mark Bauman never ran again for council and Mr. Hahn even resigned in mid term.  Mayor Sandy Shantz generally skated through all the investigations of bad behaviour and poor decision making although enough of you know what stuck to her during the process. As it should. Her hands were dirty.

From improperly held in camera council meetings to attempts to deny citizens their right to speak to Council and right on up to ridiculously stupid and lazy attempts to bypass the Municipal Elections Act regarding campaign expenses; councillors behaved like third world, bush league little despots. And got caught! Over and over again.

Woolwich Council back then were way too big for their britches. They through manipulation and lying along with Chemtura and the Ministry of Environment got rid of the best CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) there ever was.  They did this to protect and enable Chemtura's (later Lanxess's) cleanup failures in Elmira. CPAC on a monthly basis was roasting the the Ministry (MOE) and Chemtura for their lying, deceit and manipulation in avoiding proper ground and surface water cleanup. The Woolwich Observer as well as the K-W Record not to mention CKCO-TV plus radio stations may have been light on pollution coverage but they just ripped dogpatch (Woolwich Twn.) over and over again for their myriad of political and ethical failures as mentioned above.

Saturday, September 28, 2024

LANXESS, MECP & WOOLWICH DEFRAUDED THE PUBLIC?

 Hmm is defrauded above  the proper term? Certainly they have lied, deceived and generally treated the public with contempt. Does any of that pass whatever legal test is required to make such a claim? How would I know, I'm neither a lawyer nor a flakking politician appointed judge. 

Back in 2014 CPAC asked me what single issue was so serious and blatant that they should focus upon it. After careful consideration I told them that there were two issues of huge but significantly different importance and in my opinion either one was worthy of CPAC's focus. The two issues were DNAPLS still on site (& off) as well as the entire east side properties namely the Stroh and Martin farms. We ended up pursuing the east side contaminated properties which both infuriated and terrorized Chemtura/Lanxess, the MECP  and Woolwich Township big shots. 

To this day there has NOT been anything even vaguely resembling a serious investigation of the levels of contamination on those two properties courtesy of Uniroyal Chemical. The pathways are there, are obvious and clear. Dioxins, DDT, NDMA and likely the whole suite of Uniroyal toxic liquid wastes flowed both above and below ground surface onto the Stroh and Martin properties. I expect that the Stroh property is the worst of the two.

Not to worry though. Don't you know that all technical problems merely require political efforts to be resolved? This resolution of course favours the well connected, the well off and their friends. It does nothing for the environment, the majority of local citizens or the wildlife. As usual they are sacrificed for the benefit of the few.  The Elmira By-Pass will go up the east side combined with commercial development. The whole idea is to bury as much as possible and hope that erosion, flooding and natural contaminant migration will be limited. Afterall our authorities, with greed and malice aforethought, have been doing that for decades without a care in the world.  So far no one has gone to jail and as long as developers, politicians, their polluter friends and other assorted riff raff play by their personal rules versus the law, all will continue unbothered by the damage and harms they inflict upon the rest of us.   

Friday, September 27, 2024

TWO UPCOMING TRAC DATES ALTHOUGH THE FIRST MAY BE CANCELLED

 The two original dates were October 10 and November 14 of this year. Now I do recall some discussion of October 10 being too early and the alleged public consultation body are awaiting  on (as always) some report from the MECP. So please pay attention say in next week's Woolwich Observer and if there isn't a Notice for the Thursday October 10/24 meeting then likely it's been cancelled.

The primary Agenda items these days are Lanxess and the Ontario MECP putting lipstick on their pig. Their pig is of course the utter and complete failure of RAC, TAG and belatedly TRAC to achieve drinking water standards by 2028 in the Elmira Aquifers. Obviously the prime responsibility rests with Lanxess and the MECP but Sandy Shantz is the major architect of the removal of the best CPAC there ever was back in September 2015. Hence the last nine years have been a total waste of time as RAC, TAG and now TRAC continue to express their love and devotion for corporate polluters, and corrupt regulators with only occasional mews of concern combined with Sebastian's recent couple of body blows to these three groups. Calling them deferential and Lanxess's consultants the equivalent of client driven as Sebastian did should happen at each and every meeting thus letting the public know that the rosy propaganda is not shared by all. 

Further lipstick on a pig includes a new Control Order from the MECP which heaven forbid likely will be no more enforceable or serious than the last ones. Control Orders are introduced with fanfare and then watered down to the polluter's convenience when their is less public outrage and supervision ongoing.

Further lipstick will include definitions of what drinking water standards in the Municipal Upper and Municipal Lower Aquifers actually will mean.  Maybe they will even allow allegedly "treated" water to be reinjected back into the aquifers.  Perhaps select wells in the Elmira North and South Wellfields will be put back into operation and as the Region of Waterloo do in Cambridge they can play musical wells by shutting down those nearest contaminant plumes and pump water for use from others. As the plume slowly shifts towards the pumping wells then they can be shut down and others started up.

I have reason to believe that new remediation is at the least being discussed. While I have no reason to doubt that proper groundwater remediation exists I have strong doubts that Lanxess or the MECP have any serious will to actually spend money and do the required work.

This is typical cosmetic nonsense of the last three and a half decades. It's all about managing the media, the citizen opposition and the truth. Propaganda is lying to the public and our authorities have had decades of practice.


Thursday, September 26, 2024

THREE SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS ABOUT ELMIRA'S NON-CLEANUP THIS YEAR

 I view this as a very positive sign that the message is getting out there despite the best (perverted) efforts of Lanxess, the MECP and their fellow travellors.  Last spring of course we had the public meeting held here in Elmira that was attended by 70 people.  Rich Clausi was our Master of Ceremonies and Sadi did all the work around organizing both the venue (Rural Roots) and bringing out Elmira citizens. There were two guest speakers of which I was one. Then this summer I spoke to the retired wing (Kit.) of the OSSTF (Ont. Secondary School Teachers Federation.). That also went very well . Finally my third speaking engagement is about a month away and it too is quite local.

I have been pleasantly amazed at how understanding and unfortunately resigned citizens are in regards to governmental corruption. Citizens know that they are being lied to on a myriad of topics every day of the week by our politicians at every level. Convincing them has not been a problem as they've already come to this conclusion on their own. 


Wednesday, September 25, 2024

CREATING YOUR OWN REALITY

 One perfect, well known example is that of Donald Trump. He and the Republican Party haven't just created a hero, a bigger than life, fictional politician who admires Mussolini, Putin, Orban, Erdogan and other world leaders (?)  o.k. world despots but an actual myth around Mr. Trump. He allegedly is the only one who can unite America and make it great again. Or some such bull#@*%. 

Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura and now Lanxess have created a similar myth. Their myth is that the cleanup of Elmira's air, waters and soils are and always have been  in good hands and under control. This false myth is obvious when 35 years after the November 1989 Elmira Water Crisis our contaminated aquifers aren't even close to being drinkable  (NDMA  MU  .091 ug/l     ML  1.61 ug/l) average concentrations and chlorobenzene average concentrations are    MU  123 ug/l   and ML   173 ug/l . Now keep in mind these are all in ug/l which equals parts per billion (ppb)  and the drinking water standards are .009 ppb for NDMA and 80 ppb for chlorobenzene.   (MU = Municipal Upper   ML = Municipal Lower.)

Hence NDMA's currently on average concentration is between TEN and  SIXTEEN HUNDRED times greater than the Ontario Drinking Water Standards depending on which drinking aquifer is examined.

Chlorobenzene's currently on average concentration is between ONE & A HALF and TWICE times greater than the Ontario Drinking Water Standards depending on which drinking aquifer is examined. 

Of course the professional liars haven't mentioned the other hundred or more toxic chemicals also in our drinking water aquifers. Not to worry they say, those too will eventually be removed.  Sure they will along with NDMA and chlorobenzene in another 30 to 60years depending on the quality of the lying between now and then.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

BAD ADVICE?

Recently it's been suggested to me that I focus my attention and wit more upon the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP) and less upon Woolwich Township. Basically the answer is no. The MECP certainly are corrupt by various definitions of that word. They are also cowardly and have no backbone for a fight with any multi-national corporations who are big enough to hit back, hard. They trounced Varnicolor Chemical in Elmira only after they realized that myself, Rich Clausi, Susan Rupert and Ted Oldfield were taking no prisoners. We kicked Varnicolor's butt as well as the then Ministry of Environment (MOE)  publicly and regularly. We humiliated the MOE over and over again and with the media's help had some calling for a Public Inquiry into the Ontario MOE.

I believe that I focused on Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura and the MOE for almost twenty years. Only later on did I actually realize how corrupt and back stabbing the Township was. They were aiding and abetting the polluter throughout including elevating co-opted individuals and undermining those (moi) who opposed the polluter and the MOE. I recall a private meeting with Woolwich Council in the spring of 2008 when I asked councillor Sandy Shantz, who attended CPAC meetings, straight up in front of her colleagues if she had EVER seen or heard me criticize a fellow CPAC member ?  The liar hummed and hawed until she finally mumbled something to the effect of gosh she wasn't sure. I knew then that the fix was in. I had sat beside Sandy at CPAC and yes I was hell on wheels with Chemtura and MOE liars and deceivers but I had NEVER publicly at CPAC criticized or insulted a fellow CPAC member. 

After that Sandy and other corrupt councillors were fair game and still are. They have long enabled the lies and deception fed to the public by the polluter and their fellow travellors. 

 

Monday, September 23, 2024

THE LACK OF MORALS AND ETHICS INVOLVED WITH CORPORATE GAMESMANSHIP

 Uniroyal, Crompton, Chemtura and Lanxess are the corporate names of the immoral corporations polluting Elmira, Ontario.  Is there actually a morally good corporation out there that puts the public interest before their own? If so their CEO and staff would soon be out of a job. Shareholder profits, long or short term are their motivation, not moral goodness.

Gamesmanship isn't so much about playing with the rules or by the rules. It's about manipulating people. It's about carefully determining who potential friends are who can be enticed in your direction and also who the serious opposition will be. It's all about uplifting "friends" and cutting down those who oppose your contrary to the public interest, behaviour. Uniroyal knew that once Susant Rupert had left Elmira that they might be able to make some quiet inroads into APT Environment . Boy that has saved them hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs. 

They have continued co-opting politicians and others. They have consolidated since September 2015 their control of the hilariously designated public consultation bodies from RAC/TAG to TRAC. They have attempted to infiltrate persons past and present into the real opposition. Their gamesmanship is disgusting. But then so is their pollution and their lies around it. 

Sunday, September 22, 2024

THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY IS DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND EXPECTING A DIFFERENT RESULT

 Now with normal, regular, honest science there is a rule, if you will, that experiments must be reproducible. In other words if you get a surprise result from a scientific experiment you don't immediately rush out to write it up and then publish it in a scientific journal for your peers to read. Instead you carefully redo the experiment over again, maybe even several times, to see if the surprise result was an anomaly, a fluke or the result of a mistake somewhere throughout the process.  If however you get the same results from the exact same experiment, components and procedures then you may well be on to some new information.

On the other hand CRA/GHD are masters of junk science, psuedo science and just plain nonsense science. Their client, Uniroyal/Lanxess, have also been big time players when it comes to gamesmanship.  That gamesmanship includes help from their fellow travellors recruiting/enticing citizens to their cause, both declared and undeclared. It includes poaching from citizen groups again declared and undeclared. Susan Bryant is their biggest success although they have tried others. These fellow travellors include the GRCA, the MECP and Woolwich Township. Awards and certificates for example can be bestowed whether for merit or for different, less honourable reasons. 

 Their recent "investigation" of industries in Elmira using or having used chlorobenzene didn;t tell the public a single thing about that. Not one company was straight up named as using chlorobenzene. It sounded like maybe Nutrite/Yara but definitely not Varnicolor.  Borg Textiles was not named or investigated yet they are very high on the list of potential bad actors who used chlorobenzene in their textile manufacturing whether through their dye shop or otherwise.

So what is happening that requires another massive dose of insanity by the public? It is Uniroyal/Lanxess claiming to be hot on the path of the latest and greatest remediation that will do more in five years than their blessed pump & treat has done in thirty years. Promises are wind for Uniroyal and its' successors and always have been. New faces, new approaches, new words mean nothing when we have a thirty-five year history of bulls%*# from both this company and their tarnished/corrupt regulators, the Ontario Ministry of Environment. Yes I believe that proper remediation including Source Removal done honestly and professionally could have had our aquifers cleaned up over a decade ago.  They could also be much further along with on-site cleanup by now if they had gotten to it thirty years ago. Why however would I believe that their promises today are one bit more honest and truthful than all their broken promises since 1989?  One would either have to be naive/ignorant of the corporate beast or frankly insane to believe their verbal or written comments.  

Saturday, September 21, 2024

NOPE YOU CAN'T LET WOOLWICH OFF THE HOOK! THEY ARE BOTH RESPONSIBLE AND CULPABLE

 There is a moral, ethical and probably even legal onus on Woolwich councillors to do the right thing . By right thing I would suggest that that means that whatever issues are municipal from taxes, various by-laws, local development, roads, sewers and water, noise problems, odour problems  etc. must always be decided with the public interest in mind. Both short term and long term public interests need to be considered. Hence a short term road closure may not be in the public's immediate best interests but surely in the long term a closure for repairs will be. 

So does that give the municipality free rein to lie to their citizens? Especially long term lying just because the councillors think that they know better than their citizens? I think not.  If councillors and mayor believe that a dirty polluter's value to the community is greater than it's harm to the community do they have the right to lie and gild the lily? They do not! If the Council wish to educate their citizens , fine. If they wish to hold public meetings and TRUTHFULLY broadcast all the wonderful advantages to the community by the presence of the dirty polluter, again fine. But when it gets to the point that the only way that Councils can sell the continued presence in town of a dirty, dishonest polluter is by lying through their teeth to the public then it's time for the liars, politicians and truth challenged individuals to get the hell out of town.

What about moments of huge crisis? Have any of Woolwich Township's elected councillors/mayors exhibited intellects so far advanced from the rest of us that we would assign them dictatorial powers? Good Lord no. Generally to get elected they either have Mennonite last names, look good or have catapulted from a smaller community size issue into public office. Yes there have been some smart, intelligent councillors but for each of those there have been some real putzes i.e. dumb, uninformed, lazy. I don't need to name them. If you've been paying any attention you know who they are.  

Maybe the day will happen when blatant lying and coverups will be punishable by law. Maybe we will eventually see dishonest politicians who are in it for their interests only, running for the hills. You can start with Woolwich any time at all. Going along to get along is not O.K.. 

 

Friday, September 20, 2024

THE DNAPL COVERUP CONTINUES TO THIS DAY - THANK YOU ALLAN DEAL (GHD) & LANXESS

 


Who can remember all the lies and carefully maintain them over decades? Certainly Allan Deal is having difficulties. He was stumbling, misstating and confusing truth and lies during his alleged "Chlorobenzene Source Evaluation".  He repeatedly conflated the word "chlorobenzene" with chlorinated solvents. Granted even some of his text up on the screen also seemed to be having troubles using the two words consistently or appropriately. Very strange. At 1:01:49 of the Township's on-line video of last week's TRAC meeting chlorobenzene is conflated with chlorinated solvents both verbally and in writing up on the screen. Also this was supposed to be a "Chlorobenzene Source Evaluation" not a chlorinated solvents source evaluation. Two DIFFERENT things. 

Mr. Deal predicted that chlorobenzene in our aquifers would be mostly O.K. by 2028. More bull as his "asymptotic" nonsense presentation told us that chlorobenzene in the Municipal Upper aquifer was at an average concentration of 123 ppb. and in the Municipal Lower aquifer at 173 ppb. The standard or criteria is 80 ppb. Three and a half years won't make much difference.

Mr. Deal stated in response to a question about off-site DNAPLS that there were none in the off-site MU (Municipal Upper).  Nice deflection as they likely started in the shallow Upper Aquifer and likely have migrated downwards. Well W8 on the Yara property is likely affected by DNAPL chlorobenzene. W4 near the Howard St. water tower was affected by DNAPLS for years  and Mr. Deal nearly blew it when he stated that after that pumping well was turned off it didn't have it's concentrations rebound at all. He made it sound as if either he was expecting rebound or that he was surprised that it hadn't. That is true because he knows that pumping well W4 was located right there exactly to pump out the dissolved from DNAPL chlorobenzene earlier found in well OW57-32  

Finally Allan Deal fudged again . The e-mail sent out with the Revised Agenda had page 30 marked as THANK YOU and page 31 marked as "Isotope Sample Analysis". The Figure presented shows five different wells all screened in the deeper aquifers (MU, ML) and sampled for MCB - monochlorobenzene  the same thing as chlorobenzene. The funny thing is that well OW-41  from the Varnicolor Chemical site allegedly has 580 ppb chlorobenzene in it!  The point this page and Figure are making is that Isotope Analysis isn't clear enough to prove or disprove other sources of chlorobenzene.

Here however is the point . This page (31) was not presented to TRAC eight days ago. It was left off. No wonder! Mr. Deal was attempting to blame all the hydrocarbons and solvents in Varnicolor's deep aquifers (MU) on them by falsely saying upgradient Uniroyal Chemical didn't handle any of them. That has since been disproven. So by Mr. Deal's logic MW-41 on the Varnicolor site having chlorobenzene in it must have come from Varnicolor just like the other listed chlorinated solvents on their site.

So which is it folks? Did Varnicolor dump chlorobenzene on their site along with the rest of their massive dumping or did the chlorobenzene come from Uniroyal ?  Did Mr. Deal attempt a misdirection by avoiding page 31 that he sent out initially after he saw that it undermined his and the MECP's theory of  no chlorobenzene at Varnicolor AND it also undermined his theory that the chlorinated solvents in the MU below Varnicolor came from Varnicolor not the upgradient Uniroyal/Lanxess?  How about the possibility that the free phase DNAPL by the Howard St. water tower gravity flowed from  the former Borg Textiles.? Yes that's the same Borg Textiles that Allan Deal couldn't find chlorobenzene, chlorinated solvents or anything else at despite their former on-site dye shop . All in all yet another confused and confusing presentation riddled with errors and inconsistencies. 


Thursday, September 19, 2024

THE DNAPL COVERUP ISN'T THE ONLY REASON THEIR "CLEANUP" HAS FAILED BUT IT'S A BIG ONE

     CLICK TO ENLARGE THE TABLE BELOW!


 So what is this Table above? It is the next page of Jaimie Connolly's (M.O.E. hydrogeologist) May 2, 2008 DNAPL report . Yesterday I showed the seventh page with a number of groundwater contaminants from monitoring well OW86. This is the eighth page with the rest of the contaminants found in the groundwater.  Particularly note chlorobenzene and it's Aqueous or pure phase solubility of 444 mg/l versus it's Effective Solubility of only 1 mg/l  when it is in groundwater mixed with fifteen or sixteen known other contaminants and who knows how many unknown ones. Basically at this monitoring well the concentration  of chlorobenzene of .033 mg/l  or 33 parts per billion (ppb) is a strong indication of chlorobenzene as a free phase DNAPL nearby as 1% of the Effective Solubility is 1% of 1 mg/l (i.e. 1,000 ppb.) which equals 1% x 1,000 = ten (10)  parts per billion.

It is likely that Lanxess "forgot" to be honest with Dr. Neil Thompson (U. of Waterloo) about the presence of DNAPLS on their site. Hence his calculations of how much chlorobenzene should be present may have been way off and in fact could only be explained by his determination that there was an excess 1300 - 1900 kg. of chlorobenzene from an unknown source.  This left the MOE/MECP and Lanxess in a pickle as their sweetheart deal is predicated on Uniroyal/Lanxess being the sole source of Elmira's groundwater contaminants. Now that is buggered with Nutrite/Yara as well as with Varnicolor not to mention one further north and possibly either Borg or Varnicolor up to bat for the "excess" chlorobanzene. This is the confusion that professional liars sow. When they lie about almost everything you no longer know where the lies stop and if and when they are speaking the truth.

Allan Deal's chlorobenzene report a week ago at TRAC was pitiful. Good reason for the TRAC Chair to delay or deny questions from apparently the only honestly informed person present, yours truly. Good Job Nathan. Sandy, Lanxess and the MECP all love you. 

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

EFFECTIVE SOLUBILITIES CALCULATED BY THE ONTARIO MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT

 


Below is a Table from Jaimie Connolly (MOE hydrogeologist) dated May 2, 2008 presented to the MOE, Chemtura and CPAC.  It shows how extremely reduced the Aqueous or Pure Phase Solubilities of various contaminants are in groundwater that has multiple different liquid contaminants dissolved in it

Click on Image (Table) to make it larger!

Click on Image to make it larger !

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

SO WHAT EXACTLY AM I TRYING TO DO ?

 O.K. a week ago I gave a little explanation as to my strategy. Today will be a little more. Politicians and other assorted riff raff are big on plausible deniability. Their attitudes are if you have a problem for gosh sakes don't aggressively go out and investigate it. If you can smell smoke there may well be a raging fire nearby and the less we know about that the more we can pretend it doesn't exist. So by my sending municipal and regional councils detailed and specific facts regarding the east side of Lanxess i.e. the Stroh and Martin farms , the harder it is for them down the road to plead ignorance.

It's the same thing with DNAPLS (dense non aqueous phase liquids). The more information and facts they have the harder it is for them to pretend that it is a complex problem beyond their reach. Or even more so that it is a complex problem that must be left to the credentialed experts i.e. Qualified Persons  Coincidentally all the QPs are bought and paid for...oops I mean hired by the polluter and his fellow travellors. Names are not always necessary as they likely have mothers, families, children etc. and what some of them are doing is not illegal although it should be.

So I've been sending detailed facts and data to Woolwich Council, Waterloo Regional Council, Lanxess some, Ontario MECP some, TRAC some, and the media. Have you noticed how little interest the media have in Elmira these days? Are they waiting for another explosion and fire or something more dramatic like half of Elmira not waking up some morning?

By the way short of them surreptitiously adding the multi page report on chlorobenzene to last week's TRAC Agenda at the last possible moment, along with a brief description of the both short and long term groundwater pumping failures; there has been an awesome silence from our authorities in response to the facts being sent to them. Zero from the two councils, zero from TRAC, the media and the MECP. It is their non responses to an informed citizen's critiques and  clarifications of their errors and misunderstandings that is the most damning of their actions and inactions. Clearly they know that my facts and claims are accurate and the very last thing in the world they ever want to do is to publicly discuss any of it.  They are fearful, even terrified, as well they should be. Their day of reckoning is approaching and they know it.

Informed opposition to their "remediation" coverup continues. Informed opposition to their plethora of lies and deceptions involving groundwater, the former Uniroyal site, the Canagagigue Creek, other industrial sources of contamination in Elmira, the knowing and willful poisoning of Elmira residents for years will not end. Eventually they will be confronted en masse and what they do and don't do now will determine their eventual fates.

   

Monday, September 16, 2024

EPA & USGS DEFINITIONS OF EFFECTIVE SOLUBILITY

    EPA - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

USGS - United States Geological Survey

         SOURCES:

  "Effective Solubility Assessment for Organic Analytes in Liquid Samples, BKK Class 1  Landfill, West Covina California 2014-2016  USGS Open-File Report 2019- -1080"

    "EPA  Ground Water Issue  Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquids  March 1991" 


Page 8  EPA      

                         "Organic compounds are only rarely found in ground water at concentrations approaching their solubility limits, even when organic liquid phases are known or suspected to be present. The observed concentrations are usually more than a factor of 10 lower than the solubility presumably due to diffusional limitations of dissolution and the dilution of the dissolved organic contaminants by dispersion. This has also been attributed to:  reduced solubility due to the presence of other soluble compounds, the heterogeneous distribution of DNAPL in the subsurface, and dilution from monitoring wells with long intake lengths."


Page 2  USGS

                           "...the presence of DNAPL or mixed DNAPLs was considered unlikely based upon measured concentrations below the aqueous solubility threshold of 1 percent that is commonly used as a "rule of thumb" to screen for the presence of DNAPL, as described in the Draft Leachate Investigation Report ..."

"However, the 1- percent threshold for considering groundwater concentrations indicative of NAPL presence refers to effective solubilities rather than aqueous solubilities, when the NAPL may contain more than one compound ."


    Personally I have been aware of the difference between Aqueous or Lab Solubilities and Effective Solubilities for at least the last twenty-five years. So have Conestoga Rovers and GHD and any other "experts" in the field. Oddly none of them spoke up at last Thursday's TRAC meeting as Allan Deal (GHD) verbally misrepresented the 1 % rule of thumb by suggesting that concentrations at or above 4,900 ppb (ug/l) were required to indicate DNAPL presence. 

I think Sandy that either your "experts" are no such thing OR they find it beneficial not to criticize or dispute Lanxess and their client driven consultants. Keep on appointing polite, deferential people who will never say BULLSHI*  even when they're up to their necks in it.


Alan Marshall  EH-TEAM & more

Saturday, September 14, 2024

REGARDING LIQUID CONTAMINANTS, EFFECTIVE SOLUBILITIES ARE LOWER THAN LAB SOLUBILITIES

 The title above refers to yesterday's second last paragraph here where I discussed Mr. Deal's misleading of TRAC and the public by stating that the 1% rule indicated that chlorobenzene concentrations had to equal or exceed 4,900 ug/l (ppb.) to indicate possible DNAPL upgradient. That is nonsense based upon the multitude of dissolved chemical contaminants in Uniroyal/Lanxess's groundwater. Much lower concentrations based upon the EFFECTIVE Solubility would indicate DNAPL nearby. 

Five minute wonder Hadley (Lanxess) advised TRAC that Lanxess are now thinking of recirculating treated groundwater into the Elmira Aquifers. This sounds the same as suggestions decades ago to "reinject" allegedly clean groundwater back into the aquifers. I'm skeptical and for good reason.

TRAC were advised that the MECP are not ready to finalize the Risk Assessment after all these years (of deception, delay and obfuscation-my comments).  My guess is that they too are wondering if the public will be able to swallow the "no unacceptable risks" bulls**t  Lanxess (Stantec) are selling. 

Sebastian actually advised at Thursday evening's TRAC meeting that the pumping at on-site well PW4 was "woeful". He is correct yet for him to criticize Lanxess so harshly is music to my ears. That well is the MAIN well preventing the grossly contaminated on-site Municipal Upper (MU) from flowing off-site and recontaminating the Elmira Aquifers all over again. These excuses by Lanxess do not bode well for the promised pumping forever (in perpetuity) on the Uniroyal/Lanxess site. 

One more of these excuses was presented by Allan Deal advising that an "engineering buffer" is built into the Target pumping rates. This is to suggest that the Target Rate is flexible and can be readily under achieved without consequences. One that is not what we were told decades ago and to this day the following sentence is written in the footnotes (1) below each month's (Progress Report )Table of Average Daily Pumping Rates : " GHD recommends that Lanxess maintain the target pumping rates greater than or equal to these rates."  So quit making excuses and get your G.D. pumping rates back where they belong which is the long ago approved TARGET PUMPING RATES!!!

Apparently the Ontario MECP are writing some kind of tech report about the Risk Assessment. Whoopdy Do !!! Now it sounds as if Lanxess may share that report with the downstream farming families (Old Order Mennonites) first and then later with TRAC. Well the good news for Lanxess is that they will not get much if any opposition from either group. 

Again Lanxess are terrified about both on and off site DNAPLS hence repeated attempts to either manufacture or enhance "evidence" that might suggest they don't exist and never did.  Comparing chlorobenzene concentrations in wells PW4 (on-site) and W4 off-site is one example. Allegedly the chlorobenzene concentrations have been dropping in W4 and not so much in PW4. If this proves anything it is that the free phase DNAPL beside PW4 on-site at well OW88 is greater in mass and volume than the DNAPL found beside the Howard St. water tower in well OW57-32  which instigated W4 being located right there. 

Thank you Mr. Deal for using Varrnicolor Chemical as a distraction to TRAC members. At the same time you have emphasized how Varnicolor were/are a source of contamination to the Municipal Aquifers in Elmira albeit allegedly only of six solvents including very toxic Vinyl Chloride, DCE and others. Also we are advised that after 35 years Varnicolor still is not fully remediated either, as the owner who tried to get a clean bill of health in 2016 from the MECP has given up on it.  

I would characterize Thursday's TRAC meeting as an exercise in Dishonest Sincerity by GHD. Woolwich Township should be ashamed of their enabling this manipulation and deception of their citizens.