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.
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