"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?