MORE FARMLAND GOING FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BUT NOW IN ELMIRA

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

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

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

LET THE ELMIRA BYPASS BULLSH*% BEGIN!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

       

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

 

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

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

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

I DON'T UNDERSTAND

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shame on all our lying politicians and fellow travellors.  

THE PROBLEM WITH NATURAL ATTENUATION

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

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

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

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

FURTHER COMMENTS ON NATURAL ATTENUATION OF DNAPLS IN BEDROCK AQUIFERS

 

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

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

 

TWO RECENT ENVIRONMENTALLY RELEVANT NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

"THEY ALL LIE "

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

MECP CORRUPTION APPEARS CONSISTENT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRESENTING WITH APPROPRIATE FANFARE: THE (UN)OFFICIAL PLAN

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

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

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

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

 

EVEN CHILDREN ARE SACRIFICED ON THE ALTER OF POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY

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

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

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

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

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

IS THERE A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTRY SOMEWHERE?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

LEGITIMIZING FAILURE OR PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG

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

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

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

Lack of on and off-site pumping

Lack of on-site DNAPL cleanup

Lack of off-site source removal

Lack of overall on-site source removal

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

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