Which came first: the chicken or the egg? It's an old adage/saw/puzzle. In the specific case did the sub-surface drainage on the Stroh farm (immediately east of Uniroyal/Lanxess) begin long before the September 1983 construction of the Stroh Drain itself? In other words had the decades old both overland flow as well as groundwater flow (Surficial Aquifer in the north, Upper Aquifer further south around RPE-5) that flowed eastwards from Uniroyal Chemical been directed via tiles or pipe into the low lying, swampy area on the Stroh property which is due east of the north-south Berm constructed by the Stroh Drain excavations in 1983? Regardless the current tiles and or corrugated steel pipe would merely have speeded up the drainage as it's all downhill anyways.
What is obvious is the other old adage about "draining the swamp". In this case however the "swamp" consisted of both groundwater and (chemical wastewater) spillage and overflow from the east side pits (RPE 1-5). Now in heavy rain periods I would expect this low lying area would overflow as well and the mess would work it's way further southwards. An east to west gravel road was also constructed at some point to access gravel on the Stroh property which at one point was part of the diagonal (north-west to south-east) ridge crossing the Uniroyal and Stroh property. A culvert was put underneath the gravel roadway to also help drain the lower (more southern) end of the swamp.
Hence the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) merely increased the speed, flow and drainage southwards past (and into) the Martin swimming pond and Canagagigue Creek. It also however via the positioning of the north-south Berm may have slowed the erosion of heavily contaminated soils (DDT, dioxins/furans & more) from the low lying area during Creek flood events into the Downstream Canagagigue Creek and eventually into the Grand River and Lake Erie. The SDDB may also have made living next to the swampy mess more palatable for the Stroh family.
Now of course both Lanxess Canada and the Ontario MECP have intentionally stickhandled around these issues with careful selection of where and how deep to sample soils near the Lanxess/Stroh property line. They certainly don't ever want to find a major "sink" of DDT and dioxins/furans requiring millions of dollars of cleanup costs. Not to mention liability costs although perhaps quietly they settled with Stroh (but not Martin) survivors long ago.
The Stroh's and the Chemical companies were next door neighbor's and cooperated long before government began to pretend to care about the environment. Both the gravel pit and the chemical pits had to be drained and gravity was and is still the most effective and cost-free method to drain the swamp. Heavy chemicals though will be more difficult to drain and thus this contamination will remain closer to the site and more directly under the soil of the area seeping its way to the aquifers. Even from a laypersons perspective the Elmira Water Contamination Crisis is being covered up.
ReplyDeleteIt is very clear that the VERY LAST place in the area that they want to test for chemical contamination , is the Stroh Drain/ditch and berm and the soil and water underneath these low gravity spots. On its face it is NEGLIGENCE ! This is UNCONSCIONABLE! and completely unacceptable!
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