LANXESS SUCKERS WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP YET AGAIN

 

You know it's almost funny the number of times some  lapdog in the community advises me that either Lanxess promised this or that or the MOE/MECP promised this or that. It's a lot like Premier Doug Ford advising Wilmot citizens that only "willing" communities will face expropriation or other legal attacks/tactics to force development down their throats. Of course this alleged development always has winners and losers and the Greenbelt scandal really showed that the winners are friends and colleagues of Doug Ford and the losers as always are the bulk of the citizens and residents living nearby. In less than gentle and polite language it's class warfare and the middle and lower classes are the usual losers whereas the financially "upper" classes are the usual winners often at the expense of the rest of us.

Lanxess just like Chemtura, Crompton and Uniroyal makes private deals with Woolwich mayors that are not in the public interest. In 2015 the deal was that Sandy Shantz would get rid of the pesky, informed and serious CPAC in exchange for Chemtura (& the MOE/MECP) returning to regular, public meetings with a gentler, smoother, less serious and aggressive public advisory committee.  In 2024 Sandy again promised a shakeup and all she did was put lipstick on a pig (RAC & TAG) and rename the pig TRAC. Just like after 2016 the public meetings are getting fewer and fewer. TRAC has met all of twice in eight months with the third "public" meeting scheduled for September 2024. That will make all of three meetings in nine months. 

It's so sad when after 35 years of unrepentant lying and bullsh*t we don't have a single shovel full of contamination removed from the downstream (below Uniroyal/Lanxess)  Canagagigue Creek. It's also so sad that the average concentrations of NDMA and chlorobenzene are still so many times higher than the drinking water criteria in our Elmira Aquifers.

But what is worse is the whining, crying and self-pity of all the local apologists, lickspittles and toadies still defending the indefensible and intentional failure to clean up Elmira and area. These twits cry for more courtesy and respect towards those responsible for how many local cancers and premature deaths? As if courtesy and respect towards Uniroyal Chemical and successors has bought the public anything at all. Our politicians sold out for the cheapest, least effective remediation possible and totally unsurprisingly it has failed and will continue to fail.    

A GOOD OPINION PIECE IN YESTERDAY'S K-W RECORD

 It was written by Susan Koswan and titled "Dealing with all the messes that get left behind". Essentially the article describes how racialized, marginalized and poorer people are more likely to be affected by the siting of landfills, sewage treatment plants etc.. In other words local councils won't stand for building a toxic waste incinerator in say Beechwood or Westmount areas of Kitchener-Waterloo but other locations are always possible. 

Ms. Koswan also references numerous sites in Ontario including Waterloo Region in which local residents end up dealing with environmental messes. Totally avoidable messes by the way if either the letter or the spirit of the law had been upheld. It was not courtesy of local councillors, regional councillors, the province of Ontario and even sometimes the Federal government. Ms. Koswan hits most of the Region of Waterloo contaminated sites without actually naming a single company.  She also missed the site across the road from the Middleton Wellfield. The company is Canadian General Tower. Other regional polluters include Ciba-Geigy, Northstar Aerospace, Sunar, Canbar, coal tar sites on Regina St. in Waterloo and Gaukel St. in Kitchener, Deilcraft, Electrohome, Varnicolor Chemical in Elmira along with Nutrite and Uniroyal Chemical (now Lanxess). There are at least two others in Elmira not even counting the contaminated gas stations. Those two continue to be shielded from public scrutiny. 

Nice to have friends in high places isn't it? 

WOULD PAST CORRUPT OR NOT CPAC OR TAG CHAIRS HAVE IGNORED THE FAILURE TO MAINTAIN MUNICIPAL AQUIFER HYDRAULIC CONTAINMENT ON SITE?

 TAG under Tiffany Svensson most certainly has.  Dr. Jackson would NOT have ignored it but then the reductions didn't start until after he had departed. Very wise MECP & Lanxess.  Dr. Holt as CPAC Chair from 2011 until August 2015 did not ignore on-site Municipal Aquifer pumping and indeed it was maintained as a result. 

Now here's where it gets sticky. Prior to Dr. Holt we had Pat Mclean as Chair for far too long and she and Susan Bryant made "deals" with Crompton and Chemtura (i.e. Uniroyal) that were not in the public interest. How could they be? That pair together simply were in way over their heads. Yes Pat had the political expertise and Susan (English grammar & literature  career) did have historic knowledge learned from 1989 to 2000 but her sciences and math were nil. 

That said Pat was a stickler for process. As CPAC Chair she would upbraid the MECP if they too obviously circumvented the Crompton or Chemtura Public Advisory Committee. On more than one occasion she gave them hell for private meetings with Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura in which UPAC were not invited. Now that said she had no compunctions later on with her and Susan having private meetings with the same buggers. 

All in all I believe that if the polluter and it's alleged regulator were repeatedly failing to achieve the Target pumping rates for the on-site pumping wells whether the original PW1, PW3 & PW4 or the later PW4 & PW5 , she would have put it on the Agenda and expected discussion and debate on the matter. This is entirely different from what's been going on now for closer to five years both on and off the Uniroyal/Lanxess site. These failures ARE allowing off-site discharge of contaminants to the Elmira Aquifers at the same time as we now know that the entire pump & treat process is failing to achieve drinking water standards in these aquifers as mandated by 2028.

TRAC are in the same position of ignorance as RAC & TAG. They have no knowledge of past public promises made and no idea of the history of on-site pumping since 1992 and off-site since 1998. They have nothing to compare today's rates to and they are too polite and deferential to Lanxess/MECP to make a stink about it. 

HOW DO LANXESS & THE MECP SHUT THINGS DOWN IN ELMIRA?

 

Well they are nearly there. True they haven't restored the Elmira Aquifers to drinking water standards  Nor have they made any attempt whatsoever to clean up the downstream Canagagigue Creek. But ground and surface water neither vote nor speak. All the humans involved are pretty much on board. This includes municipal and regional councils as well as the GRCA and the province of Ontario via the Ministry of Environment (MECP).  Even their hand picked local citizen co-optees and deferential pretend local residents (TRAC) are all on board.

So what's left? A few informed and honest citizen activists at best. Two have recently defected to the TRAC camp and good riddance there.  The remaining are strong of heart and strong of mind. Could it be possible that Lanxess and friends are simply waiting for their biggest and most public critic to pass on?  Exactly how desperate are they to put an end to their environmental expenditures in Elmira, Ontario? Are they desperate enough to actually do even a partial cleanup of the Canagagigue and  of the Elmira Aquifers? 

How partial is partial? Say partial removal of all of ONE "hotspot" in the Creek? Maybe another half hearted attempt at ISCO (In Situ Chemical Oxidation) as they did back around 2009? Is it even possible that the company have decided that the never ending delays really aren't helping themselves as much as they thought as in say 150 years of so called "natural attenuation". That simply means talking and posturing for decades or even a century or longer if the contaminants finally are depleted by migrating downstream and downgradient in the aquifers. 

Or in the contrary nature and time are certainly going to take this particular critic long before natural attenuation cleans up the aquifers, the Creek and the former Uniroyal property. Are they willing to wait or could they perhaps hurry that along? They say that time is money. I'm pretty certain that I'll be a spent force long before I'm 90 years old so time is on their side, sort of.

SEBASTIAN SEIBEL -ACHENBACH'S WORDS ONE MORE TIME

 

Sebastian's opinion on the efficacy and competence of TAG was initially written in October 2023 and read to TAG via councillor Eric Schwindt.  They have since been published here in this Blog (July 5/24) as well as being presented again to TAG & Woolwich Council around March 2024.

"Being on TAG and predecessor CPAC, for over 12 years now, I have experienced first-hand what transpires in terms of the citizens review process. It is deficient, in large measure because of the imbalance between the company, the MECP, and the citizen representatives. This is partly because of the capitol the company has at it's disposal and, related, the technical expertise it can command. The sad reality is for third parties (e.g. GHD) to be unduly influenced by the company's interest; "he who pays the piper calls the tune". The reports and presentations over the years have been favourable to the company.  All of these are placed in a format of irrefutable and wholly "objective" science. There is rarely a critical word. Against this, a committee of laypersons- most of whom are not technically proficient in hydrogeology- are overwhelmed with detail and outmanoeuvred. Not surprisingly, they become deferential to appearance rather than really expose the substantive. And what is that?  We are just five years away from when the remediation of our groundwater was to be completed. We are at least several decades away from coming even close to achieving that.

To decrease that timeline, TAG or equivalent need to have more means to challenge the company's performance. Getting more specialists who are not beholden to give truly independent reports would be a start. If that is too much, than at least allow TAG o have whatever report comes from a company-funded consulting group subject to a third party peer review. These could come from academe or they could come from genuinely autonomous environmental consultants, i.e. out of province. What should also be considered is allowing the silenced to be heard. There are individuals who have first-hand knowledge about the company's activities who have a non-disclosure covenant. They should be allowed to speak publicly. The closer the scrutiny, the more likely that some of the self-serving assumptions and hypotheses can be exposed. Only then will a degree of balance return in our relationship and some genuine progress be possible.

-Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach "

This writeup above is by a TAG member (Sebastian) of over eight years namely from September 2015-October 2023. Astoundingly after Woolwich Council "reexamined" the RAC & TAG process they changed the name (i.e. lipstick on a pig) to TRAC and reappointed the very same group of "overwhelmed" and "not technically proficient in hydrogeology" persons to TRAC. This description also applies to Sebastian who clearly does not mind going through the motions and giving credibility to junk science and client driven consultants.

IS THE MECP IMPLICITLY OR EXPLICITLY ALLOWING THE GROUNDWATER DISCHARGE OF UNIROYAL CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS OFF-SITE?

 

I have discussed many times the shameful reductions in Upper Aquifer groundwater pumping over the last several years and how that is allowing highly contaminated shallow groundwater from Uniroyal/Lanxess's south-west corner to discharge into the Canagagigue Creek. Today I will discuss the failure /reductions in pumping affecting the Uniroyal/Lanxess on-site municipal aquifers. Remember that the very first hydraulic containment started in 1992 was from wells PW1 in the north-west corner and PW3 in the south-east corner of the site. In less than a year it was obvious that contaminated groundwater was still flowing off-site right down through the middle of the site following the natural groundwater flow from north-east to south-west. 

At that point pumping well PW4 was added on the west side of the site near some of the very worst contamination on site.Those three wells pumped for many years at pumping rates between 4.8 and 6 litres per second. Allegedly they held back the discharge of the highly contaminated Municipal Upper and Lower Aquifers. Eventually a strange thing happened as Uniroyal/M.O.E. agreed to stop pumping from PW1 in the north-west as well as from PW3 in the south-east. They then added a well in the central part of the west side of their site called PW5. We were told that those two wells alone could fully hydraulically contain the Municipal Aquifers and prevent them from leaving the site. For many years those two wells had a combined pumping rate of 4.7 litres per second. This minimum they maintained or exceeded until late 2018 and 2019. It's now been three or four years since they've achieved their minimum Target pumping rate.

So all the on-site pumping both shallow (UA) and deep (MU, ML) is well below the levels we were told was absolutely necessary to maintain hydraulic containment on the site and prevent off-site discharge. The Ontario Ministry of Environment know this full well yet there is no discussion, no debate and no questions raised at RAC, TAG or TRAC. Small wonder. None of them were around prior to September 2015 and they have no knowledge of the history of the site's "remediation". Susan Bryant, the non Canadian, non Woolwich resident traded away everything else for vague promises from professional liars to clean up the Creek. Maybe she still remembers the pumping promises and Targets made and maybe age has caught up to her and she doesn't remember. 

SO WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

 

Exactly what does it take to get our authorities to step up and clean up?  Well I can tell you what it doesn't take. It doesn't take young children swimming in the Martin's in ground home made pond that is refreshed with Uniroyal Chemical solvents and other chemicals. It also doesn't take contaminated commercial soybean and corn production intended for human consumption. Nor does it take fish throughout the length of the Canagagigue and further downstream in the Grand River with elevated concentrations of Uniroyal's DDT and dioxins.  Also the fact that both sediments in the bottom of the Creek as well as creekbank soils  with exceedances of provincial and federal criteria for PCBs, mercury, DDT and dioxins doesn't spur any action just more talk. 

Then of course there is the NDMA and the DNAPL chemical, Chlorobenzene, still in our Elmira Aquifers despite decades of talk and third class cleanup primarily using pump & treat technology. The fact that it likely will take another thirty years to get the Elmira Aquifers drinkable also does not seem to be spurring any real cleanup action. Lots more talk, bullsh**,  junk science and reliance on bought and paid for consultants seems to be the norm. 

ZERO BUFFER ZONES - UNIROYAL CHEMICAL'S ARROGANCE AND CONTEMPT FOR THEIR NEIGHBOURS

 Ever heard of "buffer" zones? Sometimes airports will have noise buffer zones to somewhat mitigate noise for their neighbours. Landfills are supposed to also have buffers whether for visual, noise or odour issues or all three. Yes chemical companies are also supposed to have buffers zones in regards to nearby residential  zoning. What about buffer zones for neighbouring farms whether growing crops or raising livestock for human consumption?

Whether they've ever existed is moot here in Elmira because the facts are that Uniroyal intentionally placed five major toxic waste pits and ponds along their eastern border between them and the Stroh farm. They also showed a remarkable lack of concern on their southern border with the Martin farm. In that case GP-2, a former gravel pit, is the repository of DDT and dioxins from Uniroyal's production of Agent Orange in the 1960s. It is located on maps merely a yard or two away from the Martin property. Nice buffer that. 

It is however the Stroh farm that likely has suffered the most from egregious blindness on the part of the chemical company and their friends and colleagues in positions of authority. What an abuse of power. While east side pits RPE-1 through to RPE-5 are probably fifty feet away from the property line (albeit elevated somewhat) it is the following three pits that are simply breathtaking in their location. All three toxic waste pits according to multiple maps are literally touching the Stroh property line at the extreme eastern side of Uniroyal Chemical. These pits are known as BAE-1, RB-1 and RB-2.  BAE-1 stands for Burial Area-1, RB-1 stands for Reburied Barrels -1 and RB-2 stands for Reburied Barrels -2.  My understanding  is that overflowing and filled RPE-5 and possibly RPE-4 both to the immediate west were full and overflowing hence Uniroyal decided to simply excavate  between those two pits and the Stroh active farm firstly with BAE-1 and when it couldn't handle all the toxic waste drums further excavations up to and touching the Stroh farm occurred with RB-1 and RB-2.  By the way Stroh has produced both corn and soybeans right there either for direct human consumption or indirect human consumption after the beef have eaten the corn produced tainted with chemicals. 

Funny how little discussion of any of this has ever occurred at RAC, TAG or TRAC i.e. ZERO . Funny how little discussion will ever take place when knowledgeable and honest citizens are systematically removed from public consultation by the Woolwich mayor and Chemtura/Lanxess Canada. 

A HISTORY REHASH: DR. DAN HOLT SENDS A VERY INTERESTING LETTER TO THE EDITOR

 The letter he sent to the Woolwich Observer was published on August 4, 2016 and titled "The law is supposed to be consistent". Overall I feel that it is an excellent Letter To The Editor albeit there are a few areas in which Dr. Dan and I are not 100% in agreement. Nevertheless his comparison of the leniency shown to councillor Scott Hahn versus the consequences suffered by former mayor Todd Cowan are indeed huge. Now my main disagreement with Dr. Dan is the nature of the offences between the two persons is in my opinion comparing apples to oranges.

Where I have to strongly agree with Dr. Dan is in his outrage at the Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC). In my opinion they are corrupt and grossly biased and unfortunately behave as if they were the accused's defence attorneys. Bluntly put their behaviour and comments were beyond ridiculous and outrageous. Dr. Holt  also took issue with myself being blamed for the expenditure of tax dollars needed to investigate Mr. Hahn's totally nonsensical expense reports. Indeed a number of concerned citizens including myself felt that the process of enforcing the Municipal Elections Act was grossly deficient and that MECAC were a large part of the problem. I hereby thank Dr. Holt for his kind words and for pointing out a number of contradictions and inconsistencies throughout the process.

GO FIGURE ! NOW WOOLWICH WANT ME TO BE A DELEGATE TO TRAC

 Let's see. Yes I did recently respond to a very nice e-mail from a Woolwich staffer regarding a report she sent me. I thanked her for the report and then bitched a bit about the new Delegation policy at TRAC. Now keep in mind a lot of things in life are subjective and are comparative. So the old TAG Delegation policy was disgusting and undemocratic to say the least so maybe these new shi*ty TRAC conditions for Delegations are only half shit*y? 

Hmm while I'm on a minor diatribe let me also say that other Woolwich staffers (say hypothetically Jared?) aren't nearly as polite and respectful as ( say hypothetically Stacy). I had sent the first a request for information many months ago. No response. I followed up with a second e-mail and same response. Now I grant you the subject matter certainly in my opinion is one that should bring shame to Woolwich decision makers over the last fourty years (Bolender Landfill) but still my question was pretty straightforward. I guess guilt and shame will cause some people to bury their heads in the sand like ostriches.

Back to Delegations. Full credit to councillor Nathan Cadeau who's never seen an insult or criticism without a golden lining. He too sent me a writeup describing the new terms and conditions for Delegations to TRAC. I found his information less helpful and worthy than Stacy's. Just another reason to save my criticism of the failed ground and surface water cleanups for Woolwich Council. Will TRAC which is made up of the same plugs as RAC & TAG also refuse to ask questions of my written Delegations or discuss or debate them amongst themselves as TAG did?  Seems likely to me. TRAC, just like RAC & TAG, are there for show and appearances. Window dressing if you will. Lipstick on a pig sort of nonsense.

 

WOOLWICH CONTINUE TO AVOID BOTH A PUBLIC DEBATE WITH ME AS WELL AS EVEN RESPONDING TO MY EAST SIDE FACTS & ALLEGATIONS

 What a pathetic joke! From Interceptor Trenches, swales, the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm, phony location of GP-1, topographical (elevation) contours, Martin swimming pond and so much more, they and their friends are apparently speechless. They flatly refuse to respond. Yes they whine and moan that they aren't treated with the respect they deserve when in fact if that were to occur half of Woolwich politicians would be in jail. After thirty-five years of lying, delaying, deflecting and bullshi*ing; Woolwich, MECP, Lanxess etc.  deserve to be tarred and feathered and run out of Woolwich on a rail. That however is illegal. 

In May 2012 CPAC members publicly stated that the groundwater would not be cleaned to drinking water standards by 2028. Woolwich Council of the day actually agreed with CPAC members. Uniroyal/Chemtura and the Ministry of Environment (MOE/MECP) did not. Allegedly the MECP were shocked four years later in 2016 when Chemtura announced they couldn't do it. Keep in mind that Uniroyal/Chemtura lied again by stating in November 2012 that they would triple the volume of off-site pumping in order to achieve drinking water standards by 2028. In hindsight that was just yet another blatant lie. Maybe in this democracy lying is O.K. as long as you have the government in bed with you.

JULY 2016 both local papers announced that 2028 cleanup of Elmira Aquifers wasn't possible

 The K-W Record published the following story titled "Elmira Water Cleanup won't meet 2028 deadline" on July 25, 2016 nearly a year after the public consultation coup by Sandy Shantz and company removing CPAC and replacing it with a more polluter friendly group of people.  The Woolwich Observer published a similar story four days earlier titled "Elmira aquifer cleanup work expected to go past 2028 deadline".

Both stories focused on "back diffusion" and how contaminates were leaking back out from the clay and silt aquitards into the municipal drinking aquifers. Interestingly Dr. Richard Jackson, TAG Chair, stated that this information maybe wasn't known in 1989 but the science and facts had been learned pretty much twenty years ago. Twenty years ago would mean in 1996 actually still two years prior to the start up of the off-site pump & treat system designed to clean the aquifers allegedly by 2028. 

Frankly that means that the guilty parties not only had been lying to the public from the early 1990s until 2016 that they could restore the aquifers by 2028 but in fact they knew they couldn't through pump & treat even before they commissioned the OSCTS (off-site containment & treatment system) in 1998. That didn't slow down their lying one bit.

HOLDING DISHONEST POLITICIANS ACCOUNTABLE BY REMOVING THEIR PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY

 The first time I heard the phrase "plausible deniability" was years ago in regards to a coup involving a foreign, third world country. The likely newspaper article referenced the fact that the United States had interests (oil?) nearby and they wanted a change to a friendlier government but they did not want their meddling and assistance to be public knowledge.  Hence the phrase "plausible deniability" was born to explain the U.S. government's wishes to make illegal government changes (i.e. a coup) while still being able to deny involvement.

Currently plausible deniability takes many forms of which what has gone on here in Elmira, Ontario over the last thirty-five years is but one example. The other described here yesterday has been occurring in Wilmot Township for many months now. Basically Doug Ford and his Conservatives gave us the Greenbelt scandal whereby they claimed to be protecting Ontario's Greenbelt and then partitioned pieces of it off to developers with connections to Doug and the Conservative party. Once burned twice shy they wanted ready to go large industrial sites around Ontario done quickly, so privately they twisted Waterloo Regional Council's arms to expropriate if necessary 700 acres of prime agricultural land in Wilmot Township.  According to the most recent statements of the Waterloo Regional Chair plus two Cabinet members it was all initiated at Queen's park and secrecy, lack of transparency and obfuscation were the preferred means of accomplishing the deed. Once more plausible deniability in action.

In Elmira every level of government have been hiding behind every other one. Similarly Uniroyal Chemical and successors (Lanxess ) have been hiding behind Woolwich Council, Regional Council and the Ontario Ministry of Environment. For more than three decades they have been reinforcing each others lies, deceptions, junk science and excuses. Lately I have been on a tear attempting to break down their plausible deniability with proven facts. Much of my recent Blogs and e-mails to Woolwich and Regional  Councils have been focused on the east side of Lanxess and toxic leakage onto the Stroh and Martin properties. However the admitted failure to achieve groundwater cleanup to drinking water standards by 2028 is a huge issue. Combined with that is the ridiculously long delayed cleanup of the downstream Canagagigue Creek which includes dioxins from Agent Orange as well as lindane, DDT and much more. 

My e-mails of my recent Blog posts to our local politicians and two local newspapers should be undermining their ability to deny knowledge of the truth and facts. These politicians have been hiding behind the junk science, the obfuscations and the deceptions of  those whose self-serving behaviour is obvious. Polluters don't like to spend money on proper cleanups when a cheaper, second rate cleanup combined with smooth presentation and supported by local politicians is available. As long as they can sell their bullsh*t to the public and to intentionally ignorant politicians they are happy. I'm trying my best to enlighten both groups and remove the politicians' "plausible deniability".

THE DIRTY TRUTH IS COMING OUT - DOUG FORD (Ont. gov't) IS PULLING THE STRINGS

In today's K-W Record two ahem "ministers" of the Ontario government have decided to cover their own butts by putting the blame on Waterloo Regional Council for the lack of transparency and obfuscation going on with the Wilmot land assembly process. Meanwhile our Regional Chair, Karen Redman, has responded with  "...we've worked so closely with the province as our key partner" and "We've worked with them lockstep the whole way." Further Chair Redman stated "We were required to maintain strict confidentiality for all aspects of the project and the province's involvement". "It was the province's playbook that we were adhering to." It even goes one step further as the two idiot Cabinet ministers also admitted that the Ontario government are "... supporting the Region of Waterloo with funding to help purchase land...". 

So lets be clear here. The province (Ont.) tells the Region of Waterloo to jump and the Region ask "How high?". Now were the regional councillors appointed by the province or were they elected by local citizens? And what about the local council, namely Wilmot? Were they not also elected by local Wilmot citizens? Yet even the local council take their marching orders from regional council not from local citizens. What the hell !!!

The democratic process is way beyond broken. Higher tiers of government award infrastructure grants for roads, bridges, hospitals, land assembly for industrial development etc. Lower tiers take their marching orders from these higher tiers in order not to miss out on government goodies and subsidies. This is why municipal governments have such low voter participation numbers. We know that we are paying for lickspittles, yes men and women and deferential wimps who talk big to the public while accepting orders not to talk to their own constituents from the Region and the Province on important matters.

All of this is exactly what has been happening in Woolwich Township for the last thirty-five years.  It also explains mayor Sandy Shantz's talents at appointing educated, intelligent, deferential and easily manipulated citizens to her environmental advisory committees. Some of these appointees are even basically honest and decent individuals. What they don't have however is the ability to be confrontational when dealing with the professional liars leading them down the garden path. Exactly what Sandy and lower tier politicians have learned in dealing with Regional and Provincial governments.

Wilmot are just at the start of their political awakening. Woolwich citizens have suffered through 35 years of  lies, deceit and political corruption sanctioned by the Province of Ontario in order to protect a local polluter, Uniroyal Chemical and successors, from proper cleanup of our drinking water and our local Creek. 

SWALES, SWALES & MORE SWALES ON UNIROYAL/LANXESS'S EAST SIDE

  What is a swale? According to Webster's Dictionary it is "a marshy depression in a stretch of land". O.K. that certainly applies to a swale or two just off of Lanxess's extreme south-east corner . That swale actually runs into the Stroh Drain or maybe more properly into Martin's Creek . It is readily visible and could actually be fallen into if one was not walking carefully. The extreme south-east end of the swale is actually below the surface of the water as it discharges into the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB).

There are much larger and currently drier swales further north that actually run on the west side of pits RPE 2-5 . Pretty clearly these swales which are visible in various aerial and satellite photos are a result of the overflowing of all the east side pits (RPE 1-5). Why are similar swales less visible on the east side of these five pits? The reason is because the land there has been reworked multiple times including landscaping further south, ploughing and planting crops on the east side the length of the five pits as well as a gravel road being constructed between the pits and the Stroh property line.  All that said, the fact is that for decades there was a clear immediate drop in the ground elevation from the Uniroyal property to the Stroh property indicating the direction overflowing liquid wastes took.

Now the swales on the west side of the pits visually end at the swampy and for decades below water surface of the former large swamp  on Uniroyal's property. The purpose of the 1983 SDDB was indeed to drain this swamp and rid it of chemical alligators if you will. Clearly draining liquid chemical wastes from the overflowing east side pits that had been pumped across the Canagagigue Creek in two pipelines was the goal of the SDDB. Indeed it lowered the water table to the point that the swamp was drained on both sides of the property line. Also keep in mind that these liquid wastes mixed with the groundwater in the swamp and gravity flowed downhill! Based upon elevation contours provided by our various authorities the vast majority of the liquid wastes flowed south-east onto the Stroh property where they pooled in a low lying area. Hence the majority did NOT flow directly into the current location of GP-1  as claimed. 

The problem of course with open swales in the ground is that unlike a pipe these swales do not 100% contain all their contaminants. In other words there is direct and immediate leakage downwards into the soils beneath the swales. This is where downgradient  Interceptor Trenches as described a few days ago come into play. These Trenches which consist of plastic pipe that allows contaminated groundwater to infiltrate then carry the liquids via gravity in this case most likely off-site to the east where they join up with the visible sub-surface pipe that emerges to ground surface at the very north end of the SDDB. None of this was known by citizens in the mid 90s when Uniroyal somehow magically convinced the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to accept hydraulic containment of only the south-west corner of their site. I have no doubt that the Ministry did know and likely approved.

Of course none of this has ever been honestly, openly or properly discussed and debated at CPAC, RAC, TAG or TRAC.  Lanxess and the Ontario Ministry of Environment are virtually terrorized and apoplectic at the possibility. This is why Sandy Shantz and Mark Bauman rode to their rescue in 2015 and lied and obfuscated to have CPAC removed and a much tamer and deferential committee formed.

DID MOST OF THE DIOXINS & DDT IN GP-1 OCCUR FROM GRAVITY FLOW OR WAS IT FROM UNIROYAL PUMPING THEM INTO THE FORMER GRAVEL PIT?

 Now that is an interesting question albeit one among many that Lanxess and the Ministry of Environment (MECP) refuse to answer honestly. A little clarification: in 2013 (& 2014)  Chemtura excavated various areas inside the former gravel pit known as GP-1. They removed off-site several tonnes of contaminated soils which they claimed had occurred from gravity flowing liquid wastes from the uphill pits and ponds (RPE 1-5), through a very wet and swampy area into the north end of GP-1. They further claimed that these overflowing surface liquids then ran the length of GP-1 (175 metres) in a south-eastern direction and further discharged into GP-2 (gravel pit 2). Now this further discharge required an almost  180 degree turn back westwards but hey this is Uniroyal/Chemtura and they walk on water don't you know. Also conveniently this near 180 turn meant that excess surface flow through GP-1 did not then immediately flow 35 or 40 metres due south onto the Martin family farm.

Logic must of course be suspended when dealing with Uniroyal Chemical and their successors.  Repeat their false mantra even to this day. "Everything is contained, nothing other than groundwater ever flowed off-site."  Such rubbish! Regarding pumping there are old maps showing the real location of GP-1 to the north-east on the north side of the north-west to south-east high diagonal ridge of land that possibly is part of an old sand and gravel moraine if I have the proper word.  These maps have arrows showing pumping occurring from the original location of GP-1, over top of the higher ridge of land and discharging into the much lower ground elevation of what is now known as GP-1.

What would the reason for pumping possibly be? How about complaints from the normally amenable neighbour to the east namely the now deceased Mr. Earl Stroh. Why would he want even more of Uniroyal's liquid wastes flowing directly onto his property ?  All in all these behaviours and lies were all in Uniroyal Chemical's financial interests and have likely saved them hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs as the lowest elevation areas on the Stroh property (345.0 masl)  eventually filled up and then overflowed further south-east until they joined the natural creek (Martin's Creek) draining the southern end of the Stroh property through the Martin property, past their in ground pond and finally into the Canagagigue Creek. This drainage was only enhanced in the summer and fall of 1983 when the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) was constructed to aid in draining this area of the Stroh property. 

All's well that ends well and if you ignore the human costs, past and present, then it's only the costs to the natural environment such as the benthic community, fish, birds and local food chain predators. Maybe there are biological effects further downstream in the Grand River but they too can be easily ignored when our local chemical company has full support from both municipal and regional councils. Remember that our environment has always come second fiddle to politics and always will. Talk is cheaper than cleanup and politicians and their friends will never run out of talk.

DO AMENABLE, NON-AGGRESSIVE MUNICIPALITIES FARE BETTER FINANCIALLY FROM THE PROVINCE (ONT.) & THE FEDS?

 

Maybe the reverse question is whether NDP ridings fare worse than those dominated by Liberals or Conservatives?  Boy would I like to get my hands on documentation showing historically which ridings get the most new roads, bridges, federal or provincial buildings such as courthouses and offices etc. Now of course NDP ridings would pretty much require even the municipal politicians to be careful with their anti labour, anti environmental rhetoric. Hence I would expect fewer right wingers on municipal councils of Hamilton (steel city), Sudbury, Timmins than say Kitchener, Waterloo etc. 

What I'm really wondering is if Woolwich Township have been rewarded by Ontario and the Federal government (Lib. or Cons.) for their extraordinarily flexible Township politicians who have refused to get on board with local citizens and demand proper environmental protection as well as cleanup? It's kind of hard to believe that our municipal taxes reflect some kind of  discount for our collective willingness to allow decades of air, water and soil pollution in our community.  Municipal refusals, whether at the Township level or the Regional level, to conduct health studies are but one example. 

To date our still relatively new Woolwich Council have shown themselves to be willing to go down with the ship.  I expect that they will get that opportunity .  

EAST SIDE PITS WERE ELEVATED ABOVE GROUND SURFACE! PLUS NEXT THREE TRAC MEETING DATES

 

O.K. The less important TRAC dates as per the Woolwich Township Calendar are September 19, October10 and November 14 all starting at 6 pm. I likely will not attend as I can keep up to date simply by watching the videos of the meetings after the fact. Besides "up to date" is actually a misnomer. TRAC, just like RAC & TAG is simply the public charade orchestrated by the guilty parties to pretend that everything is under control while the reality is totally different. 

Occasionally there will be a reference to in-ground pits and ponds. O.K. in fact they are to a certain extent below the ground surface at least at the bottom of the pit/pond. However if the entire pit is ten feet deep and only six feet is below ground level then guess what happens when the pit routinely overflows? The liquid wastes, possibly combined with rainwater, have a four foot head of steam if you will, pushing them downhill and downslope via gravity.  Think about it! When you intentionally place your toxic waste pits/ponds on the highest ground on your property and add a few more feet of elevation then you have clearly intended to discharge a significant volume of those wastes to flow outside the pit. That means that with premeditation you are discharging your toxic liquid wastes into the natural environment knowing they will flow downhill and besides soaking into the ground, end up in the Creek which flows the entire length of your property, north to south, as well as turning 90 degrees east and running towards the Grand River.

None of this was by accident. The same holds true for the attempted cleanup of the site (west & east) BEFORE the alleged "discovery" of NDMA in our south wellfield in 1989. Everything was predicated upon the necessity of getting ahead of the public announcement that Uniroyal and political friends had been dreading for decades. Those plans were not totally successful as local Elmira residents were outraged to learn that both the company's, the Ministry's (MOE/MECP)  and the politicians reassurances were nothing but hot air and lies. Their drinking water had never been protected whereas Uniroyal had been!

   

AS PER LAST WEDNESDAY'S POSTING, OBVIOUS TRUTHS IGNORED BY OUR AUTHORITIES

 

First off I know when Lanxess have been tipped off that I've struck a nerve. That's when this Blog starts getting hits again from Germany.  Now I do recall one time prior to the start of a TAG meeting that Dwight Este of Chemtura/Lanxess approached me with some advice that allegedly Lanxess was not owned by a large German conglomerate (Bayer??) or was it by Saudi Arabia (Aramco??). It's also possible that I'm conflating two different folks telling me different things. Regardless I have definitely seen a trend over the years since Lanxess Canada took over from Chemtura. How much weight did I give Dwight's advice. Hmm at best 50/50. It could be truth or it could be bullsh*t. Quoting the late, great Pat Potter, "They all lie!" She used to wear T-shirts that said that.

What is one of the most obvious truths? How about the topographical map that I put together using raw data (elevation contours) from various sources including the GRCA, Ministry of Environment, Region of Waterloo, CRA and likely more.  Now yes all of these luminaries are professional liars but... the ground surface elevations are consistent between all of them and yes they've got the Creek (Canagagigue) and other smaller surface water bodies clearly at the lowest elevations. All of this does indicate a certain reliability even from liars. 

My map is approximately two feet wide by three feet tall. Visually it is very clear as I have added yellow arrows showing the direction of surface water flow based upon the agreed upon elevation contours . I have also got two separate sets of red arrows indicating two very low areas in which contaminants likely settled out.  Now timing is everything as the one low area is the result of highly contaminated soil from overflowing RPE-5 being excavated and put back into RPE-5 well after the end (1970) of most of the pumping of toxic liquid wastes from the west side manufacturing buildings to the east side pits.  

My map also shows where much of the eventual east side liquid wastes flowed overland and off-site both westwards towards the on-site Canagagigue , east and southwards to the Stroh farm and south and eastwards onto the Martin property. 

It is all OBVIOUS except to PROFESSIONAL LIARS !

  

YESTERDAY'S POST SHARED WIDELY

 Firstly it went to all six Woolwich Township councillors . Then I sent it to eight different local citizen environmentalists. Thirdly this morning it went to all sixteen regional councillors. SIXTEEN of them. Wow maybe that's why some complain that we are over governed.  Personally I don't mind the numbers if we are well governed. The problem is that we are not and the two cherries on top are the current, anonymous, sneaky, back door land assembly in Wilmot Township combined with three and a half decades of pretend ground and surface water cleanup in Elmira (i.e. Uniroyal Chemical). Numerous unnecessary new gravel pits whether in North Dumfries, Wilmot or Woolwich are a third major issue being conveniently ignored.

I also went looking yesterday for e-mail addresses for our Crown Prosecuters. Not so easy to find. I ended up making a few phone calls both to provincial and federal Crowns looking for clarification as well as to share information. Federally speaking we must not forget that Uniroyal was invited to Elmira during World War Two in order to produce explosive stabilizers for the Canadian government/military. Later on (1960s) Uniroyal was also under contract to the U.S. military for herbicides/defoliants such as Agent Orange for use in Vietnam. Finally some may know that prior to the discovery of NDMA in Elmira's south wellfield the Canadian government in 1989 had undertaken a groundwater study in Elmira trying to determine the best remediation methods for Uniroyal's wastes. Isn't that a hoot? My understanding is that after the "discovery" of NDMA ,  the province of Ontario told the Feds to take a hike because the destruction of our groundwater was a provincial matter solely. 

LEST WE FORGET HUNDREDS OF METRES OF INTERCEPTOR TRENCHES ACROSS THE UNIROYAL/LANXESS PROPERTY

 Where do they discharge? Most likely subsurface into a pipe on the Stroh property. That pipe can be seen above ground at the extreme north end of the Stroh Drain as it discharges to surface water in the SDDB (Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm).  One arm of the Interceptor Trench may be for SA/UA  (Surficial & Upper Aquifer) contaminated groundwater and the other arm may be for the deeper UA3 contaminated groundwater, hard to say. These two arms come together and run down the west side of the retention pits and ponds (RPE 1-5) to the south end of RPE-5 where it turns eastwards and runs across the Uniroyal/Lanxess property line and onto the Stroh property.

I believe the successful purpose of these Interceptor Trenches was to remove the need for hydraulic containment of the shallow aquifer on the entire east side of Uniroyal Chemical despite decades of toxic liquid wastes being dumped into unlined pits and ponds (RPE 1-5). Afterall by bypassing dumping directly into the Creek on their property via a willing "host" on the Stroh property they avoided millions of dollars in pump & treat costs . The fact that these liquid toxins both went partially through a children's swim pond on the Martin property and were dumped untreated into the Creek apparently did not cause outrage at the Ontario Ministry of Environment or with Woolwich and regional councils.

It makes attempting moral suasion with these people unlikely. Uniroyal/Lanxess have shown zero serious attempts to explain these highly visual scars on the earth via both aerial and satellite photos. I and CPAC were dumped by Woolwich Council shortly after these damning photos were taken to public CPAC meetings and released.  In my opinion this behaviour and coverup deserves criminal charges.  

HOW DO MUNICIPAL & PROVINCIAL LIARS OPERATE? SIMPLE, THEY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE OBVIOUS TRUTHS WHILE EMBRACING NONSENSE AND LIES

 

For example Woolwich, Region of Waterloo, Ministry of Environment and Uniroyal/Lanxess  spent twenty-five years howling to the universe that they would achieve drinking water standards in the Elmira Aquifers right up until they reversed their position around 2016 or 2017. Then suddenly they "discovered" insurmountable problems such as "back diffusion" and later on "asymptotic behaviour".  Their complete reversal in position after twenty-five years was shameless and arrogant. Never have they said "Well maybe we could have done more." or "Gosh we may have overlooked these other factors and problems." 

They intentionally chose the cheapest, least effective and slowest remediation method possible merely hoping to either eventually co-opt their citizen opposition which they did or run them into the ground mentally, emotionally, financially and physically. Obvious truths they've ignored abound. These include the presence of both free phase and residual DNAPLS both on and off site.  They've stickhandled and lied their way around DDT, dioxins, PCBs and mercury in the downstream Creek sediments and soils as well as in various lifeforms simply by hiring another company to do a ridiculous, biased and inaccurate Risk Assessment (HHERA) based upon shoddy sampling and method detection limits exceeding the criteria of the various toxins. 

Off-site flow of Uniroyal Chemical toxins has never ended due to poor hydraulic containment of groundwater as well as overland flow and deposition of contaminants. Their big lie is that they've achieved containment. Really, yet year after year, spring flood after spring flood the concentrations of DDT and dioxins and more, miraculously are not removed after being washed downstream into the Grand River but reappear in the sediments and soils throughout the five miles plus of the downstream Canagagigue Creek. The truth is that for decades off-site flow of contamination was going everywhere including the neighbouring Stroh and Martin farms to the east as well as onto Nutrite (Yara) to the west. The one obvious truth they admit is that NDMA and more flowed via groundwater from their site to the north and south wellfields albeit maybe they want to lie about it going north-west to the north wellfield. Who knows when you are dealing with professional liars.

LANXESS/MECP, HOUSE OF CARDS ELMIRA CLEANUP, IS COLLAPSING

 

Two Scots and a Mark have cut and run. Other local politicians have also passed the torch and safely (they hope) cut and run. Poor old Sandy screwed up big time. She had an heir apparent but let her biases and dislike cloud her judgement by staying in the last mayoral race. Let me put this bluntly. There will be no hiding for Sandy. In September 2015 she destroyed the very last chance for local, honest citizens to take  control of the Elmira cleanup. Her actions along with Mark Bauman on council sealed the deal for the decades long political conspiracy to do the absolute minimum cleanup while hoping for natural attenuation, inconsistent pump & treat and ongoing off-site leakage and discharge to eventually clean the aquifers and the downstream Canagagigue Creek. It has been a classic case of coddle the polluter while deceiving and lying to the public. 

Sandy and most Woolwich Councils have bought into the conspiracy which fundamentally and falsely states that little to no source removal combined with long term below Target Rate pump & treat can remediate one of the worst, most toxic sites in Canada.  While source removal of contamination in a myriad of various forms has long been available, it has only gotten better and less expensive over time. Despite this,  municipal, regional and provincial politicians have securely covered their eyes and ears and along with the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP) and Uniroyal/Lanxess pretended otherwise. An entire remediation industry as well as many University groundwater research labs and departments know for a fact what has been going on here in Elmira for decades. Yes the local political conspiracy may have snowed local citizens and media but a much larger world knows full well what kind of crap has flourished here. Multiple Documentaries have been produced and none of them have been kind to the ongoing lying and deception.  

Keep it up Sandy. Infamy awaits you and likely your council acolytes! 

OUR ALLEGEDLY UNBIASED JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS POLITICIZED

How many rotten outcomes does it require to prove that? How many convicted murderers have been released years/decades later in Canada after being proven innocent? How many alleged murders weren't even murders but deaths by other causes including natural? How many people are serving long murder sentences when either bodies were never found or in fact were found but there was no solid medical cause of death? How in hell do you convict anyone of murder when the medical experts can not tell the cause of death? Never fear here in Canada judges and juries are psychic.  Just because doctors can't prove murder they are able to read person's minds and ascertain guilt through their superior intellects. 

The following names are those of Canadians falsely convicted of murders that either they didn't do or in fact never were murders in the first place:

Morin, Milgaard, Truscott, Marshall, Mullins.  Now Thatcher is an anomoly as he was both convicted and served his sentence although the body of his wife was never found. Locally Mr. Ball is serving a life sentence despite doctors being unable to say whether his alleged victim actually was murdered or not. And on and on.

What is the politics going on here? Law and order is a big thing in society and politicians whether municipal, provincial or federal do not like to see open, unsolved cases. For their own careers, future votes and happy electorates they do not want citizens believing that their police forces are second rate, incompetent or amateurish. Hence there is always a push to get convictions in high profile cases which per se is not a bad thing. It becomes a bad thing however when weak human beings are prepared to take self-serving short cuts on the route to conviction.  If you've got a bad person locked up especially with a history of lesser offenses, our court and judicial systems make it way too easy to get convictions. Far too often juries who don't like the defendant are far too keen to get the process done and go home. "Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" morphs into "the bastard probably did it" and they convince themselves when there is reasonable doubt present. 

It is a shameful system only barely overcome when the defendant has a ton of money available for top notch lawyers and technical experts to defend themselves. That's what our judicial system has become.  

DRAINING & FLUSHING DIOXINS & DDT THROUGH AN OUTDOOR CHILDRENS' POOL & INTO THE CREEK ("GIG")

 

Extreme brass and insensitivity are required. Along with that must be near blood oaths between participating politicians. How else can a politician relying on future votes behave in such a manner confident that he/she won't be found out? 

The proof is clear. Despite extraordinarily thin sampling both dioxins and DDT above health criteria have been found in the sediments of the Stroh Drain. In one instance 24.2 ppt. dioxins were found in sediments with a health criteria of .85 ppt.  How do our politicians and authorities fail to take action under these circumstances? Consistent misinformation, deflection and group lying are the main methods. 

The pool is on the Martin property and the Stroh Drain has a pipe directly from it, gravity flowing into the pond to help keep it full. This pond has diving boards and other gear nearby indicating regular use at least at one time.  This pipe has been seen flowing by myself, by Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach and by former councillor Mark Bauman.  Likely hundreds of others as well. I have both publicly spoken and written about it. I'm not sure whether the other two ever have.

UNTESTED SOIL SAMPLES ARE STILL VIABLE SEBASTIAN, TRAC, LANXESS & MECP

 

Back around 2019 soil samples were liberated from a site in Elmira. Only a few of them went through a commercial lab and their results handed out to various parties including CPAC, Observer, Record, Lanxess, GHD, MECP and Woolwich Township.  TAG did not get copies given directly to them because one of their members rolled over, begged, pleaded, cajoled, threatened? and generally made an as* of himself. He did not want his friends on TAG to lose respect for him. He did not want to be viewed as an eco terrorist. He did not want to get the boot from a prestigious (B/S) citizens committee allegedly on the right side of the cleanup. In my opinion he was more worried that professional liars and their tame committee would not respect him as 1) an environmentalist   2) an intellectual   3) an honest person with integrity   4)  being committed to always playing by the rules of those in charge  5)   an activist prepared to walk the line for the greater good (i.e. the public interest).  So he sold out his CPAC friends (not all agree), the public, the environment, the truth just to keep his name in good stead with a pack of as*holes.  Sure hope you are enjoying their company because eventually they along with TAG and so many others will be reviled for what they have done and not done in Elmira.