WILL THE ONT. MIN. OF ENVIRONMENT GET A PASS FOR THEIR CORRUPTION & COLLUSION? MEANWHILE TRAC ARE WINDOW DRESSING TO CONTINUE TO DECEIVE THE PUBLIC

 

Transparency - Hmm seems odd that after all these years Woolwich/TRAC can't even figure out to keep their damn doors open to allow the public in to a Public Meeting i.e. TRAC last Thursday ( See Fri. April 26/24 posting here). It is also pathetic that they are now putting out Agendas & Minutes between 100 and 600 pages in length. For last week's TRAC meeting they had three Revised Agendas each one longer than the first AND they screwed up the page numbers royally regarding at the minimum "Correspondence".  Also their page numbers are confusing as there is both a number at the top of each page that comes up on one's computer screen as well as one on the bottom of each page and they do NOT match. 

This I know because I checked carefully this morning. I was looking for my e-mail sent to TAG /TRAC last March as it was mentioned at the very end of last Thursday's TRAC meeting. Lo and behold it took me over half an hour to find it in two of the three Revised Agendas namely #2 and #3 but no where near where the Table of Contents for the Agenda stated. Revision #1 said Correspondence was on page 101. Instead it was on page 95 or 195 depending on which number scheme you use. Revision #2 simply did not have Correspondence or an Agenda included. Revision #3 stated that Correspondence was on page #82 when in fact it was on page 176 or 178 depending on which number scheme you use. 

Then we have the TRAC meeting itself. Oh my God. Member after member indicated as they introduced themselves that they had "no expertise", "no scientific background", "no specialist knowledge", "no real expertise regarding Elmira's issues" etc. Combined with them were the usual dead weight such as the GRCA. Now just to be fair there are a couple of hydrogeologists. One is blatantly biased  (pro Lanxess) and the other more subtle about it. One totally non-technical citizen slept sitting somewhat only upright at her computer station for about a third of the meeting. A couple of times her head snapped back upright as she succumbed to the scintillating discussion underway.   

In my opinion the so called plume analytics by Joe Ricker of WSP consultants is primarily Smoke & Mirrors.  He has an excellent/interesting voice and he can handle an audience very well. He did make a couple of serious admissions though including that his plume analysis regarding changing AREA, changing CONCENTRATIONS and changing MASS REMOVAL is totally based upon concentrations and data supplied to him by GHD (formerly CRA). In a nutshell he bragged about how wonderful the unsuccessful aquifer remediation has been and stated that he'd never seen an aquifer respond so well and remove so much contaminant mass in his decades (4?) of experience. I too can brag about being a world class target shooter never having been defeated by world class competition. Of course I've never competed anywhere near that level hence my alleged perfect, undefeated results as per my bragging and puffery. Based upon both the aquifer results and the raw data sources he used grossly diminishes the results and his conclusions for me.

Also at one point he had to have Ramin  (Lanxess) clarify for him as to when and which pumping well (W4) may have been shut down thus affecting the contaminant plume characteristics. Furthermore he appeared to be all about these plume characteristics and always subscribing the positive outcomes (i.e. concentration decreases ) to the world class efforts of Uniroyal-Lanxess. Nothing good was ever caused by natural attenuation or simple lack of ongoing grotesque toxic dumping that ended fifty years ago. Nothing bad (concentration increases) was also ever the result of faulty decisions, short cuts or squeezing nickels for shareholders' benefit versus the public interest.  Quite frankly I'm pretty darn certain that my knowledge and recollection of the history of remediation and pump & treat versus citizen suggested improvements such as Source Removal (numerous methods) including ISCO (In Situ Chemical Oxidation) far exceeds his. For this site!!! Undoubtedly Mr. Ricker is an expert in his narrow field but having him lecture mostly environmentally inexperienced TRAC members is easy pickings. Likely why I and a couple of other honest and informed local residents will never be on that committee or any other appointed by a dishonest Woolwich Township.

Possibly more on this topic tomorrow.       

LAST THURSDAY'S TRAC MEETING DISCUSSED THE 2023 ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT

 Overall while there has been some good data presented in the Annual Monitoring Reports over the years there has also been some pretty heavy bullsh*t.  That seems to appear in the Conclusions and the interpretation of data. For example there is an interesting tidbit that Ramin Ansari of Lanxess has stated before and that concerns isotope analysis of chlorobenzene on site as well as offsite that does not match up with isotopic analysis of chlorobenzene dissolved in groundwater removed from Observation Well OW75 located near pumping well W3R near Midas Muffler on Industrial Dr.  Ramin is strongly suggesting that there is a second source of chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers and that too is supported by Dr. Neil Thompson's (U. of W.)   Conceptual Site Model which determined that there was excessive chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers that could not be explained. Clearly a second source is probable.

My guess right now is either the former Borg Textiles or the former Varnicolor Chemical. What I find bizarre is that nobody seems interested in finding out. Way back in the very early 1990s Uniroyal claimed that there were other sources without producing any evidence which somewhat weakened their case. Now I wonder if they showed their evidence to the Ont. Min. of Environment in the summer of 1991 which is what scared the Ministry into offering a sweetheart deal to Uniroyal as long as they didn't blab about  the Ministry's failure to do their job and prevent groundwater contamination in Elmira from multiple sources. 

JUST TO BE CLEAR - I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY

 

I suppose the real estate industry could be a target for folks who are locked out of the home buying market based upon grossly inflated prices. Also I've heard the odd whisper about gamesmanship involved occasionally in order to bid up prices and presumably also the real estate agent's fees. That's it however. I have little or no background in real estate and certainly willingly admit no special or significant knowledge of the industry.

So why am I involved in a formal complaint against one particular agent selling a home in Elmira? It's because literally after years of legitimate concerns and complaints to Woolwich Council being dismissed, devalued and lied about I'm fed up. There has been nothing but bullsh*t and bafflegab out of the Township versus any reasonable explanation as to why they allegedly believe that there is no danger from the methane constantly present in the landfill. 

My concerns about the explosive nature of methane are solely based upon various scientific literature available on-line from sources as diverse as the U.S. EPA, Health Canada, university researchers, Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP) etc. They, not I, have set agreed upon criteria as to when local residents, municipal authorities, MECP etc. should be concerned and should expect action from their councillors, MECP, fire departments, health departments etc. All of these criteria have been exceeded off and on for literally decades but the responses by our authorities have been inconsistent, contradictory, half-hearted and inadequate up to and including not following recommendations from consultants hired and paid for by municipal residents in Woolwich Township . 

This is why I have laid a formal complaint against a real estate agent not disclosing information about the Bolender Landfill to prospective buyers. He may actually not have known about the Bolender Landfill as shocking as I find that. He may be a fine upstanding and totally honest individual but I believe that prospective buyers have an absolute right to that landfill information PRIOR to purchasing the specific home. That right is a moral and ethical one and maybe it is also an absolute legal right. I am not a lawyer/judge and do not know. Perhaps my actions in filing a complaint, that is open to mediation by the way, could clarify this situation and help buyers already under great pressure make a better informed decision. 

WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP - CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE & A FORMAL RECO COMPLAINT

 

Recently an environmental acquaintance advised me that he thought Woolwich Township's environmental decisions and behaviour was more about incompetence and less about corruption. This was in regard to efforts around groundwater treatment and in fact might have even included Lanxess's actions. Here's a news flash. Just because they are corrupt and dishonest doesn't mean that they can not also be incompetent.  This incompetence was further on display last evening as Woolwich's latest rebranding of greenwashing, namely TRAC,  embarrassed the heck out of them.  Their untruthful claim about transparency and accountability took a hit as they held their first PUBLIC meeting at 6 pm. in Council Chambers. It was scheduled to run from 6 to 8 pm. Guess what those twits did? Somewhere between 6:10 and 6:20 pm. they locked the outside door preventing citizens who have babysitting issues, dinner to prepare etc. from showing up a little late to sit in the gallery and listen to all the professional deception, misdirection and general bullsh*t  they have to offer. There is no buzzer for admittance or intercom outside .Repeated e-mails and texts got the citizen into the meeting sometime after 7 pm.  Another good job Woolwich!

Yesterday I indicated here that I had attempted to send formal complaints to RECO (provincial) and WRAR (local) in regards to real estate agents not disclosing serious local issues to prospective buyers. I mentioned that I was not confident that my on-line complaints had gotten through. Indeed they probably did not and thus this morning with a little help received yesterday from a more computer able individual than myself  I resubmitted the five page complaint form to RECO. Later today or tomorrow I may also attempt to resubmit to WRAR. As indicated yesterday here I have no reason to have any confidence in either RECO or WRAR especially as I was advised yesterday that my friend had approached, I believe he said RECO, with a complaint years ago and got absolutely nowhere. Parents do not give up on your children who have zero interest or ability in math or sciences as they can still get high paying jobs as professional deceivers and bullsh*t artists. Both industry and government require them constantly.

  

BASED ON EXPERIENCE I HAVE ZERO CONFIDENCE IN MOST INVESTIGATIVE/ENFORCEMENT BODIES

 From first hand experience I can confidently state that our judicial system as in Superior Court in Kitchener is a piece of crap . Maybe that's inherent and maybe it's simply an awful judge such as Robert Reilly and possibly Gerald Taylor who I believe presided over the Woolwich Township versus Frank Rattasid civil trial a few years back. Then there is MECAC. That is a plain farce in which mostly former politicians gang up to protect current politicians from accountability regarding the election process. Both Scott Hahn and Sandy Shantz benefited from that pack of dishonest swine.  There is the College of Teachers which is just one more self-regulating and self-serving group mostly going through the motions of serving the public interest. And on and on.

Yesterday I filed electronically (maybe?) a complaint with RECO and WRAR. I say maybe because unlike say my on-line orders of CBD Oil for my arthritis in which I receive a confirmatory e-mail immediately afterwards, there was nothing from either. Also when I sign on-line environmental petitions there is usually a confirming "Thank You" afterwards from the sponsor of the petition. Again nothing from either RECO or WRAR. 

At the moment I can't fully recall what those letters stand for although both allegedly are some kind of enforcement of real estate agents Rules & Regulations. RECO is the provincial body and WRAR the more local, regional one. Maybe the WR in WRAR is Waterloo Region .... and the RE in RECO is Real Estate... something? Not certain. The point is I am appalled that prospective buyers of homes in the subdivision on the east side of the Bolender Landfill and most especially those very close to it are not informed about the existence of the Landfill and particularly about the fourty years of methane monitoring and detections far above the health and safety criteria. 

Yesterday's post here explains some of that. Possibly on the RECO complaint under the heading of whom I was complaining about I listed the real estate agent's name along with the words in brackets "(sort of a complaint)". The fact is that I don't know who exactly is really responsible. Is there a serious duty upon the agent to do serious due diligence or is it simply a loosey goosey matter of whether he recalls any serious issues nearby or not? I do not believe that I have ever met the real estate agent or have any connection whatsoever to him. It certainly is not personal.

Long story short I expect literally nothing from either RECO or WRAR. If however my "complaint" does assist in greater early disclosure of local problems and issues to prospective buyers then that is a good thing.  If the real estate agent relies upon either the municipality (Woolwich) or even the Ministry of Environment (MECP) then he is a fool along with most of the rest of us. Both Woolwich Township and the MECP are dishonest bodies and ultimately they should be held responsible for their behaviour that is  contrary to the public health, safety and interest.     

MONKEYSHINES CONTINUE AT THE BOLENDER LANDFILL

 

Does the lying ever stop? Are politicians so short sighted and so stupid that they think that everybody forgets their lies? One possible reason for the Township's decades old coverup of the seriousness of the methane gas is the fear of lowering property values in nearby homes on High St., George St. and others. I guess the Township feel that lying to everybody is better than having to buy homes nearest the landfill due to the Township's culpability in siting the Landfill next to this subdivision. 

I've recently noticed another issue regarding the Bolender Landfill As the trees have been thinned out one can more readily see the earthen berm along the back end (east side) of the former scrapyard. In the past I've seen the flooding Canagagigue Creek go over its' banks and totally submerge Bolender Park. Due to the berm behind the scrapyard I suspect that the flooding included significant parts of the landfill itself. If so this would explain the repeated failures of the methane gas monitoring and venting systems over the decades. When the tubes are filled with water the methane can not vent to the atmosphere. Even a high water table can cause this but when combined with surface water it's even more egregious. 

I thought that real estate agents were legally bound to disclose nearby hazards and issues to prospective buyers of homes. Apparently not as the realtor for 10-A  High St. has not been doing so. He claims that he has no knowledge of the nearby former landfill. Wow! This is Woolwich Township folks. "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".   

SHOULD WE GIVE LANXESS MASTER POLLUTER STATUS ?

 

This would be based upon the entire picture including the amount of pollution versus the amount of bullsh*t going along with it.  In other words a polluter with larger volumes being discharged might not rank quite as high as a modest polluter immersed however in massive bullsh*t. 

One such example of massive bullsh*t  are the polluters spending time and some money with elaborate CAPS or Citizen Public Advisory Committees. Now although we have horrific environmental bullsh*t throughout Woolwich Township and Elmira, that is not all. In fact we have massive horsesh*t as well, literally all over the roads. This is after all Elmira, Ontario home of a large Old Order Mennonite population whose transportation is primarily horses and buggies. I wonder why cattle (i.e. bulls) take such a bad rap (i.e. bullsh*t) when rarely if ever do I hear the term (horsesh*t) here. I think that that might be discriminatory.    

Regardless there is yet another point. Are all CAPS necessarily bad? Perhaps a Cap by any other name is. Examples abound locally including UPAC, sometimes past CPACs and most certainly RAC, TAG and the latest pig with lipstick namely TRAC.  But what about the Sulco Cap here in town? From everything I;ve heard it is actually the real deal. Sulco (i.e. CCC) ownership/management apparently do not lie or deceive their Cap members. They do not treat local citizens with contempt. They honestly attempt to answer all questions.

The Lanxess Cap claims to only deal with current events not past ones.  That is a lie as they to date refuse to discuss the ongoing Risk Assessment of the Canagagigue Creek. That alone is good reason why Dr. Holt should not be still on that Cap. It is also good reason why he should not be enticing other local citizens to join that Cap.

Similarly Sebastian should have resigned long ago from TAG as he claimed he would. He is now on the new TRAC which is simply a conglomeration of the old, failed RAC and TAG members. TRAC is simply a rebranding of one of the grossest examples of perverted public consultation possible (RAC & TAG) and honest, sincere individuals should not tarnish their name by being on it nor should they give TRAC credibility it does not deserve based upon who manufactured it (Woolwich, Lanxess, Sandy & David)  and who most of the members are (Lanxess fellow travellors). 

I believe that all this Lanxess public relations effort should be rewarded with a Master Polluter designation.

TRAC AGENDA ITEMS HAVE NEVER BEEN VIGOROUSLY DISCUSSED OR DEBATED

Why would they start now? The best case scenario is that Sebastian humbly requests the consideration of his fellow colleagues on TRAC and they as usual ignore him. He and Susan might also however advise that enough Woolwich citizens understand and are aware of the downstream "hotspots" (Agenda Item  8.2  ). Agenda Item 7. is very unlikely to receive much intelligent discussion although it should. I posted here about the last four months of utterly pathetic non-pumping both on and off site last week  (Tues. April 16/24). This Item  7. is allegedly going to seriously discuss just the last three months namely January, February and March. Item 6. is the 2023 Annual Monitoring Report which is just another cheerleading exercise in which Lanxess and friends brag about how much the plume has shrunk and how many kilograms of NDMA they have removed (or not).  They will studiously avoid how high above drinking water criteria concentrations continue to be throughout large areas of Elmira.

It's all for show folks. I have attended in the past in order to keep up to date on basically what they are not doing that they should be and to hear first hand any new lies or deceptions they are selling to the public. Woolwich Township are miles and decades past any semblance of honesty or transparency. All politicians at all levels are on board with the scam. 

    

FIRST TRAC (Totally Rotten & Corrupt) MEETING THIS COMING THURSDAY

 

Just to be clear my acronym above for Sandy and Lanxess's tame committee refers to those in charge namely the Chair, the mayor and the lair (lair is misspelled in order to rhyme with chair and mayor). Lanxess may be better ethically than Uniroyal Chemical or they may simply be better in public awareness and public relations. There are likely some decent, honest and informed persons on TRAC but rest assured they will never be in the majority even with the self-serving, biased setup leaving the mayor and Lanxess fully in charge.

The meeting will be held in Council Chambers at 6 pm. April 25, 2024. TRAC are literally an amalgamation of the well trained, well disciplined and totally deferential wimps, wimpettes and in over their heads fellow travellors who have made up RAC and TAG for the last few years. Also co-optees are welcomed along with conflict of interest queens (Pat is gone). Missing are the very best locally informed CPAC members who have more sense than to join this abomination of Lanxess cheerleaders and sycophants. Also missing are what should be the majority of honest, local citizens on this committee.

Interestingly even at this late date Sandy, Ramin, David, Jason, Esther and others in charge are still afraid of the public. Boy did they stay the hell away from the Elmira Environmental Awareness Event back in February. The only other access the public have to speak  and ask questions is at this grossly contrived,  proven public consultation failure even publicly stated by one of their own members (Sebastian). It's in the TAG Minutes possibly of February 2024 (Woolwich Township website) although I expect the Township to move it around or make it disappear eventually.  Honesty is never the best policy for professional liars and their supporters. 

POLITICS IS LIKE SEWAGE: THE YOU KNOW WHAT FLOATS TO THE TOP

 Today's Record advises us that "Kitchener development a threat to drinking water supply: report". Well news flash folks, pretty much all development threatens the drinking water supply.  Just the same as all population increases threaten our surface water (Grand River etc.) as larger and larger discharges of partially treated human sewage get discharged into them.

The major damage has been done long ago by industry throughout Waterloo Region. Most of our pollution laws are toothless tigers and those that aren't are rarely if ever enforced whether provincially (Min. of Environment-MECP) or by our local municipalities via by-laws or by complaints to the MECP. Salt on our roads has not helped nor excess fertilizers on our farm fields. 

The article in today's Record suggests that development in the south-west part of Kitchener will cover much of the Waterloo Moraine's recharge area. That is not a good thing although ensuring rain water from residential and industrial roofs goes into the ground versus into roadways and storm sewers can be improved. The repeated mention of a Lake Erie Pipeline is interesting. I view that as more of an excuse for the inevitable than as a threat that will only occur if development is situated on recharge areas. My belief is that regional politicians know that they have been  incompetent and complacent regarding groundwater protection despite their words to the contrary. 

Similar to the mess in Elmira they are looking for an exit strategy that will leave them untarnished and unblamed for the groundwater damage that has been done in Waterloo Region. See my two posts earlier this week regarding groundwater contamination (Mon. & Wed.).

LOTS OF TURNOVER ON RAC, TAG, AND THE RAGTAG TRAC

 RAC - Rotten And Corrupt

TAG - Totally Asinine Garbage

TRAC - Totally Rotten And Corrupt  

MECP - Ministry of Expanded Corporate Pollution

These acronyms will help you identify the players and their motivations. Wilson Lau has departed which I find peculiar. His expertise in Risk Assessment seemed apparent yet dare I think, hint or suggest that maybe, just maybe he found his expertise being used to support an unlikely supposition namely that there are no unacceptable risks in the downstream Canagagigue Creek? I do not know for sure but I feel better about him thinking this.

TAG lost Bill Barr, Joe Kelly and Katarina Richter over the years. Also Pat McLean departed but that was no loss whatsoever. Sebastian has stated his desire to resign numerous times over the years but to date still hasn't done it. Hydrogeologist Dustin Martin also walked a while back. I think others have also departed but I can't recall their names at the moment. Susan Bryant is neither a Canadian citizen nor a Woolwich Township resident but has brought credibility to TAG etc. to the point that she has received appropriate compensation for her long complicity. Eric Hodgins (former RMOW) is back after a long absence and seems intent upon maintaining the status quo.

I may not live long enough to see it but nevertheless am confident that eventually history will get it right. The above groups including mayor Sandy Shantz and CAO Brenneman will not be regarded well in long term hindsight. Their collegiality with the MECP, Lanxess, Chemtura, Crompton and Uniroyal Chemical will eventually be their undoing. The failures to protect the health of all Elmira and Woolwich residents and citizens as well that of the natural environment will be exposed and obvious. 

CLOSING THE GATE AFTER THE HORSE HAS BOLTED

 

In this case it's after the contaminated groundwater has left the property.  Yes it is the solvent contaminated groundwater including trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride , 1,4 dioxane and more beneath the Erb St. Landfill in Waterloo.  This contamination has been in the ground and groundwater literally for many decades.  It has also been denied for most of that time so what has changed? Politics and our population keeps skyrocketing mostly from students and immigrants hence the need for more drinking water. The Region of Waterloo have a well deserved reputation as leaders in groundwater protection. May I just add a small addendum to that? They are leaders in groundwater protection "after the horse has bolted".

Two problems. There are many known "windows" beneath the Erb St. Landfill allowing  both municipal leachate as well as industrial solvents to flow downwards past the natural clay barrier into our regional drinking water aquifer. There are also likely more unknown "windows".

Secondly "management practices" required to stickhandle, delay and minimize the negative effects are already being used by the Region to protect the St. Agatha Wellfield just west of the Landfill. They are being used and strongly being recommended to keep on using them which includes limiting the volume of pumping at the nearby St. Agatha Wellfield in order to reduce the water flow from beneath the landfill towards the wellfield. 

The three solvents listed above have all been found in Elmira's groundwater courtesy of both Uniroyal Chemical and Varnicolor Chemical. Back in the day both these companies and others used each and every landfill they could to dispose of their toxic wastes. 1,4 dioxane was unknown to me back in 1990 when it was identified in shallow soils on the Varnicolor site along with perhaps 100 other chemicals.  It has since been identified beneath the Ottawa St. Landfill and necessitated improved treatment at the Greenbrook Wellfield after it migrated to there.

Good news however. Many of the players involved in the decades long cleanup failure in Elmira, Ontario are also involved in protecting the Erb St. Landfill's reputation (& the Region's?). This would include the Region themselves, consultants CRA, GHD, Wilf Ruland, and Stantec. Now keep in mind Stantec's efforts have primarily been in regards to their very problematic claim that there are no unacceptable risks in the downstream Canagagigue Creek. Oh and of course our very own and highly unesteemed Ontario Ministry of Environment clearly have some jurisdiction and interest in protecting the provincial government from more bad publicity.

Maybe the guilty parties have decided it's almost soon enough to break the bad news to Waterloo Region residents that a Lake Erie Pipeline is about to be moved to the front burner.        

SO DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND THE FAILURE TO ACHIEVE GROUNDWATER CLEANUP IN ELMIRA, ONTARIO

 

NOT!

The pumping Target Rates have been in front of our eyes since 1998. These off-site Target Rates were to achieve BOTH hydraulic containment of the contaminant plumes hence preventing them from spreading in area as well as to slowly reduce the concentrations of the various toxic chemicals to below Ontario Drinking Water Standards. The on the Uniroyal site Target Rates were intended solely to contain the contaminant plumes on site. 

Consistency and reliability in pumping and treatment were required to achieve these goals. Uniroyal, Crompton, Chemtura , Lanxess, CRA and GHD have been totally incapable of keeping the systems up and running to their own Target Rates over the last 26 years hence the failure. The Ontario Ministry of Environment have rarely and barely even said "Tsk Tsk".  RAC, TAG and now TRAC will also do their best to ignore these failures and point their fingers elsewhere. TRAC members (i.e. RAC & TAG) rebranded  will go about business as usual begging for cleanup scraps along the Creek and  justifying the aquifer cleanup failure with a new "deadline" plus lots of rah, rah look how many kilograms of chemicals we removed from the aquifers last year. There will be no word as to how much new contamination has leaked off the former Uniroyal site into the aquifers beneath Elmira. 

Off-site Target pumping Rates  were approximately 53 litres per second in 2012. Currently they are  at 63.8  l/sec.  The total off-site pumping for the last four months (Dec.2023, Jan., Feb., March 2024) has been a ridiculous 42.4, 37.4, 28.5 and 44.9 litres per second.  GHD recommends in writing that actual pumping rates equal or exceed  their Target Rates.  

Hydraulic Containment also known as Pump & Treat or Pump & Dump is the cheapest and least effective remediation possible for contaminated sites.  These never ending pumping failures have been going on since the beginning. I no longer believe that they are unintentional. Lanxess are saving money every month that this crap goes on.  Woolwich Township and TRAC will serve as their cheerleaders.  

IS THE REGION'S PUBLIC DISHONESTY ABOUT OUR GROUNDWATER GOING TO CHANGE ?

 "Source water protection" has a nice ring to it. As does "Country side line".  Also "aquifer recharge areas" and the provincially mandated, several years old now, long term planning to protect the Region of Waterloo's groundwater. I suggest that just as the "Country side line" has been exposed as a fraud in Wilmot Township, the other terms are also mostly smoke and mirrors.

The Region of Waterloo have been playing musical chairs with our drinking water wells for decades now. Cambridge in particular has a number of  industrially contaminated sites that have adversely affected their groundwater. Hence drinking water wells when pumping draw in groundwater from great distances away including changing the natural groundwater flow direction. This "management practice" of operating pumping wells for short periods of time (eg. six months) and then shutting them down and restarting another well has even been admitted to at public CPAC meetings in the past.

  In other words our regional authorities have been knowingly pumping from industrially contaminated aquifers for decades. Early on (late 70s & early 1980s) there was concern in Elmira when it was admitted that yes the regional aquifer supplying drinking water from the north and south wellfields was located directly under the Uniroyal Chemical plant. Now of course all our politicians and fellow travellors jumped in to Uniroyal's defence  with a myriad of lies and falsehoods such as there is an impenetrable clay layer between the aquifer and the ground surface as well as well the south wellfield is far too distant from Uniroyal for any contaminants to travel that far.

Thirty-four years ago there was a public scandal regarding liquid chemical wastes as well as semi solid wastes being sent to the regional landfill in K-W from Varnicolor Chemical via fraudulent lab reports showing that they were non-hazardous. Yours truly had tipped off both the Region as well as the media. So embarrassing  for the Region. That is the reality likely of all our former landfills as industries paid both above and below the table including bottles of whiskey to MOE officers as well as landfill supervisors. 

Right now as we speak the Erb St. Landfill is leaking leachate into the regional aquifer right beneath them that supplies drinking water to the St. Agatha wells as well as to downgradient wells in Waterloo and Kitchener at various wellfields. The Region of Waterloo are also using "management" practices to attempt to mitigate the extent of contamination in our drinking water wells caused by the Erb St. Landfill. Claims that nobody knew better than to locate that landfill directly above the regional aquifer in 1972 are ludicrous. Further claims that nobody knew anything about leachate collection in 1972 are also ludicrous.  Our municipal and regional politicians have always cheaped out on the important stuff such as sewage treatment and clean drinking water in favour of grandiose projects to attach their names and reputations to such as the LRT.  

WHAT COSTS DO TAXPAYERS FACE BECAUSE OF POOR ENVIRONMENTAL, POLITICAL DECISION MAKING?

 Hmm let's see. Canada Mortgage & Housing on the hook for millions of dollars in abandoned townhouses due to methane intrusion beside the Ottawa St. Landfill in Kitchener. How about the private wells on Sandy Hills Dr. contaminated with solvents courtesy of the Woolwich Landfill (Seiling Dr. in Woolwich Twn.). A new water pipeline plus never ending aquifer pump & treat costs in Elmira, Ontario. The Middleton Wellfield in Cambridge has the second highest per unit  water treatments costs (only behind the Grand River & Hidden Valley) due to Trichloroethylene (TCE) throughout the groundwater. Oh and of course the Erb St. Landfill in Waterloo has cost millions of dollars in consulting fees alone I expect. Then there are the trucking and treatment costs sending the leachate to the Sewage Treatment Plant. There are also hydro costs pumping groundwater either to waste or to a treatment centre if they even bother to do that. What is the cost of destroying our drinking water wellfields? What is the cost of building a water pipeline to Lake Erie for Waterloo Region? 

Rest easy, the only costs we don't know are for the Lake Erie Pipeline but we will very soon know those costs only too well. 

HAS THE BIAS IN FAVOUR OF POLICE SWUNG WAY TOO FAR?

 George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are two well known American citizens who paid the ultimate price for police misbehaviour and violence.  One was murder by a police officer and the other criminal negligence in my opinion. Here in Waterloo Region a few years back we had a burglary suspect fired at multiple times by Officer Darling while running AWAY from the officer. Running away not attacking! The suspect was hit by one or two of seven bullets fired and the officer was later cleared of any criminal wrong doing.  Any ordinary citizen "defending" their home by shooting a suspect running away would have been convicted and incarcerated.

Today's Waterloo Region Record ("I just wish it didn't happen") advises us that a brown skinned citizen (relevant??) ran over and killed an undercover Toronto police officer three years ago.  The officer and his partner were both undercover i.e. in civilian clothing as they attempted to stop and remove him from his car in an underground parking garage beneath Toronto City Hall. Here's the kicker. The man was with his eight month pregnant wife AND his two year old son. Oddly (?) he was not cooperative in the attempt by two unknown and unidentified aggressive individuals to stop him and remove him from his car. 

The two undercover police officers were allegedly investigating a stabbing at the time and clearly felt that that permitted them to behave aggressively with the unarmed man and his family. They had the wrong person and one of them paid for their aggression with his life. As bad as that is, now the innocent individual protecting himself and his family is charged with causing the officer's death in his attempt to escape the confrontation and the area. 

Police make mistakes just like we all do. Honest citizens should not be punished for resisting illegal or mistaken aggression aimed at them, regardless of the other parties state of mind. Our idiot politicians need to stop backing police carte blanche and pretending that citizens do not have the absolute right to defend themselves and loved ones from ALL threats and hostilities including government sanctioned ones.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FINALLY TAKES SOME CRITICISM REGARDING ELMIRA CLEANUP

 May 2, 2016 the Waterloo Region Record published a story titled  "Town pushes feds on creek water". Way back in 2004 Dr. Henry Regier also tried to get the federal government involved. They were not interested . This time both TAG Chair Dr. Richard Jackson as well as mayor Sandy Shantz were trying to get some action (i.e. help) from our federal government but they are again playing hard to get. Keep in mind the feds were involved both in studying the grossly contaminated Uniroyal site around 1988 as well as in decisions around supplying war material to the U.S. military for use in Vietnam. I'm speaking of course about the use of defoliant Agent Orange which was produced here and elsewhere during the late 1960s. The unwanted by-product was dioxin which has done serious damage around the world. 

For Dr. Jackson and others the shocking aspect is Canada's help in assisting the Vietnamese people who have suffered greatly from exposure to products produced by Uniroyal Chemical (& others) that were sold to the U.S. military. While that help is appropriate the Canadian government's see no evil, hear no evil attitude to Elmira's related problems are reprehensible. 

It is very clear that our governments cherry pick the issues that they will address. Apparently a group of pacifist Mennonites in Elmira, Ontario are not worthy of protection much less even basic assistance from our federal government. Also to their shame our local councils have joined hands with our provincial government in coddling Uniroyal Chemical and their corporate successors. Neither laws nor morality have been able to budge the dirty, corporate polluters in our midst. 

MAYBE MORE THAN WIMPS CAN ASPIRE TO PUBLIC OFFICE

 The old joke goes like this: "It isn't fair that 95% of lawyers or politicians give all the rest a bad name." Be that true or not that still leaves 5% who are good people. Yes some have good motives and good intentions. Going back to the 95% or whatever the percentage might actually be however they aren't all wimps. There are likely true believers who honestly believe that all the rest of us are sheep who desperately need to be led by the nose. Then there are some who are inherently bad, greedy and dishonest (too many). Finally there are likely a number of sociopaths. 

I recently watched a Documentary on television describing a mass murderer in the U.S.  He was interviewed after he was caught and his own words were chilling. He was bragging to the police about his one set of murders of four people in a motorcycle shop (there were other murders as well). It was all about him and his feelings, well being etc. Allegedly the four had either insulted or teased him about his difficulty in riding a new, expensive motorcycle that he had bought there. If true then the four certainly weren't terribly smart in being rude to a paying customer. That said the murderer entered the establishment with a handgun and calmly walked through the building shooting and killing all four, unarmed and defenseless individuals. Months later after being caught and then interviewed by police he actually bragged to them about his talent, speed and smoothness in nuetralizing the opposition and "clearing" the building of hostiles. Good God has this individual watched too many police shows on television? Had he been a soldier in another life and he thought he was in a combat zone? Or was he an absolute sociopath who literally had zero compassion, empathy or care for any other human being in the world other than himself? To me that scenario is the most scary.

How many of our political leaders are sociopaths who know how to act, speak and behave while in the public eye while having absolutely zero conscience or concern about any of their fellow human beings? Yes the simply greedy and dishonest politicians will do bad things not in the public interest for their own gain.  They will however generally avoid direct physical harm to their fellow humans unless they have an iron clad excuse such as war and formal hostilities. Even then they will attempt to justify their harsh actions.  Hopefully sociopaths in politics are a very small minority. Otherwise we are all in grave danger as they will not hesitate to sacrifice us and others for their own perceived benefit. Perhaps  policies ignoring Climate Change are such an example???       

SO WHY BOTHER GIVING WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP COUNCILLORS WELL DESERVED GRIEF?

 Firstly lets define the "grief". Generally speaking it is specific criticism of some of their blatant, not in the public interest, behaviours.  Sometimes that "grief" is simply posts here on the Elmira Advocate. Other times these same posts get sent to the local media such as the Woolwich Observer and the K-W Record.  Usually they also get sent to CPAC members albeit recently I've not been sending them to all CPAC members. Most of the "grief" albeit not 100% is in regards to the long coverup of the facts surrounding the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis. Town councils were long in bed with and in fact included Uniroyal employees back in the day i.e. prior to 1989. 

 Hence recently they got hell for the pathetic and unreliable pump & treat system, the self-serving Risk Assessment of the Canagagigue Creek and the intentional coverup and refusal to properly test the soils on the Stroh and Martin farms for Uniroyal's dioxins and DDT etc. Yesterday they got hell for their Wilmot Township like behaviour in that they rolled over decades ago to the province's wishes. In Woolwich's case they rolled over to the MECP's (Min. of Environment) phony toxic cleanup of Elmira and area.  

Woolwich are not fully in control (ha!) of this cleanup so what do I expect of them? I expect strong  representation all in the public interest of Elmira and Woolwich citizens. I do not expect them to fawn over Uniroyal (Lanxess) . I do not expect them to pick and choose deferential wimps to sit on their alleged public consultation body (TAG/TRAC) . I do not expect them to pick "friendly" citizens who neither are Canadian citizens nor live in Woolwich Township to sit on these committees.  I expect Woolwich to stand strong and firm and insist upon honest data and reports versus client driven, bought and paid for junk science all favouring the polluting company. I expect them to yell long and hard at the province when they refuse to push Uniroyal/Lanxess to clean up the mess they either made or purchased. 

Woolwich Township are beyond complicit and some day that will be common knowledge.

WIMPS ONLY NEED APPLY - THE REALITY OF MUNICIPAL "GOVERNANCE"

 Wow does Luisa D'Amato ever give it to municipal and regional councillors in her article in today's Waterloo Region Record titled "The Region has lots of land. Why is it looking for more?" .  She makes it clear that there is lots of land available and preplanned for on the east side of Kitchener and Cambridge. It's actually referred to as the "East Side Lands Employment Area ". She also spells out that this whole planning and democracy disgrace is controlled by Doug Ford and the province of Ontario. Lest we forget that Doug Ford likes to throw his ample weight around and the only difference between him and a schoolyard bully is that he is an elected bully.

Not only have our local municipal and regional politicians rolled over to Non-Disclosure threats but Luisa suggests that the ultimate threat from the provincial government is well within Doug Ford's wheelhouse namely "Do as I say or I'll remove your regional government in it's entirety." Cowards and self-serving politicians will never buck the provincial (or federal?) government. Tell me what exactly are we paying our municipal councillors and mayors for when they roll over every time the provincial government says "Boo"?  Where is the leadership to push back against outside threats to our environment, our planning processes and the protection of our farmland? Simple, it's in the hands of private citizens who are pushing back hard in Wilmot. 

Woolwich Township also abdicated their moral authority decades ago and continue to do so as they coddle Uniroyal Chemical (Lanxess) and cower to the Ontario government (MECP-Min. of Environment).  Nothing new for them at all.    

MORE 2023 ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT NONSENSE

 Wow.. allegedly 97% of the NDMA has been removed from one aquifer or another in the off-site Elmira Aquifers. But... the concentration of NDMA still exceeds the Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS) in all aquifers. That's the first problem. 

The second problem is that the entire former Uniroyal Chemical site is still a hazardous waste site. A semi-contained only, hazardous waste site.  Why do you think that dioxins ,DDT and so much more are still being found year after year downstream despite annual spring floods flushing and often scouring the creekbanks and creek bottom ? Again it is because they are being constantly renewed from the former Uniroyal site via erosion, groundwater flow and other migration processes. 

So knowing how much mass has been removed from off-site isn't even half of what is needed. How much mass is still left on the Uniroyal site awaiting its' turn to be mobilized? When will it be mobilized and how long will it be before the site has mostly stopped discharging contaminants? 100 years, 200 or more? That would be very good to know as well as strategies to clean it up. 

Sweetheart deals and Non-Disclosure Agreements are the bread and butter of dishonest and corrupt organizations. Just ask the RMOW and Wilmot Township as well as Woolwich Township.

BETS ARE THAT WOOLWICH READY TO FOLLOW WILMOT'S LEAD

 Today's Waterloo Region Record has another front page  story about Wilmot Township rolling over and being willing to sacrifice prime farmland for industrial development. What is interesting to me is which cities and townships are so pro growth and pro development that they are willing to circumvent planning processes, protected greenspace and their own commitments. Indeed this includes Cambridge, Kitchener, North Dumfries and Woolwich Township. No surprise there for me.

Woolwich have always played fast and loose with the rules. All rules. Look at the east side of Elmira. A few years back they switched the proposed Elmira By-Pass from the west side of town to the east side. The west side was cheaper and easier to build on as the ground is higher and requires fewer and smaller bridges than the east side.  The east side has to cross over the Canagagigue Creek and it's extensive low lying floodplain requiring extensive and expensive bridges and higher elevated roadways.  More importantly while they will be burying current farmland they will also be burying decades of Uniroyal Chemical contaminated lands and waters that have never been remediated.  This includes parts of both the Stroh and Martin farms. 

Our powers that be care not a whit for you or I. It's all about self-serving actions that will benefit them and theirs down the road and the public interest be damned.  This will include more farmland being sacrificed on the alter of development, growth, greed and helping the rich get richer at the expense of the public interest. Yet again. 

WOOLWICH HAVE NO INTELLIGENT ANSWERS - LIKELY NEITHER DOES LANXESS/GHD/MECP

 

Public consultation my butkus. I sent three serious and reasonably detailed critiques to Woolwich, the Observer and a number of dedicated environmentalists. So far exactly zero response from Woolwich Township. Now the unfortunate fact is that there isn't a single councillor with a clue as to what is going on remediation and cleanup wise. Hence councillor Cadeau had been leaning on most likely Woolwich CAO Dave Brenneman who may have more knowledge but in my opinion less of other necessary attributes.

The three critiques were regarding the on and off-site pump & treat system, the pretend cleanup (Risk Assessment) of the Canagagigue Creek and finally the nonsensical, intentionally myopic refusal to do proper soil testing on the Stroh property next door. All of these involve intentional ignorance and stupidity by our politicians, bureaucrats and authority figures. Self-serving deals were made by the guilty parties decades ago and those privately negotiated deals included massive deception and lying to the public. They will continue to lie and deceive until or unless the public loudly say enough of your bullsh*t. 

GLASS HALF EMPTY...OUR POLICE & JUSTICE SYSTEM STINKS VS. GLASS HALF FULL...THE COURT OF APPEAL CAUGHT THE MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

The victim who had no previous criminal record or history served a year in jail after his entrapment by the RCMP and a career criminal/paid RCMP informant. Incredibly the RCMP paid this professional, convicted career criminal $300,000 prior to the trial of his selected "accomplice" and then another $100,000 after the informant testified and the victim was convicted. Oh and less we understate, the career criminal was also on a monthly "maintenance" schedule which paid him $3,000 per month. Hmm just a wee bit more (HA!) than my monthly C.P.P. and O.A.S. retirement benefits 

News flash folks. Several of our social benefits such as prisons, courts, schools, hospitals, police have all been monetized to the benefit of those working in them versus for the benefit of the public. In other words management and unions have used the public need to both entrench themselves and to enrich themselves. In fact I think it's obvious that any lessening of demand for these services would reflect negatively upon the status, income and authority of those in charge. This actually gives an incentive for these various services to drum up more business including apparently through the use of illegal entrapment by the police.

This front page article in today's Waterloo Region Record is both a shocking example of the administration of justice being put into disrepute as well as the eventual "save" by the Ontario Court of Appeal. Kudos to the latter and shame on those including the RCMP, prosecutors and  courts who went along with the initial scam. 

ONLY FELLOW TRAVELLORS & RELATIVES SHOULD TRUST LANXESS PLUME MAPS ?

 

I mean my first doubts probably occurred twenty-five years ago or more. Groundwater plume maps looked great but I picked up a few discrepancies that concerned me. For example a groundwater elevation line that was on the wrong side of a specific concentration was a red flag. Basically groundwater flows from higher elevations to lower and contaminant concentrations generally decrease with distance from their source. Therefore if you have a contour line of say 341 metres above sea level then you expect higher concentrations of contaminants upgradient of it and lower downgradient (i.e. farther away) .  

Also I noticed then that some of the groundwater elevation readings were both self-serving and sketchy at the same time. Off-site well CH44 is a good example. Somehow it maintained a higher elevation than several observation wells much closer to the Uniroyal property which was very convenient for CRA and Uniroyal because it "proved" hydraulic containment on site (i.e. lower groundwater elevations on site implied an inward flow versus an outward flow of contaminants). It turned out that well CH44 had a direct connection between the Upper Aquifer and the Municipal Upper Aquifer which artificially raised the groundwater elevation readings thus supposedly showing hydraulic containment. It was all bullsh*t. 

Today's plume maps concern me for a number of reasons including the alleged great containment even when they are pumping significantly less than they have in years and decades past. It is counter intuitive and again awfully self-serving. I believe that their decreased pumping both on and off-site has decreased hydraulic containment AND reduced the number of litres of contaminated groundwater being treated and then discharged to the Canagagigue Creek. Please explain to me how long term less volume of pump & treat  in both shallow and deep aquifers is allegedly maintaining containment on site and supposed to decrease contaminant concentrations off-site to drinking water standards. It isn't working and all parties after decades of lying now so admit that.

ALLEGEDLY CHLOROBENZENE IS NOT IN THE BEDROCK AQUIFER YET CONCENTRATIONS ARE HIGHER IN THE MUNICIPAL LOWER AQUIFER THAN IN THE MUNICIPAL UPPER

 

NDMA concentrations are also higher in the Municipal Lower (ML) aquifer than in the Municipal Upper (MU) aquifer.  And...wait for it indeed NDMA is present above drinking water standards in the Bedrock Aquifer. 

Chlorobenzene is also denser than NDMA and to my mind should have entered the Bedrock Aquifer after going from the surface through the Upper Aquifer, through the Upper Aquitard, through the Municipal Aquifer, through the Municipal Aquitard and then into the Municipal Lower Aquifer. Why stop there? The volumes of chlorobenzene also greatly exceed the volumes of NDMA that entered the subsurface below Uniroyal Chemical and migrated downwards through all the aquifers and aquitards.

They wouldn't lie to us would they?

As mentioned here on Saturday a close examination of the chlorobenzene plumes in the MU and ML (2023 AMR ) sure indicate a second source of chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers. Indeed an examination of the NDMA plumes actually indicate the possibility of two or more other sources within the town of Elmira. 

They wouldn't lie to us would they? These are rhetorical questions.