WHAT ARE THE SLIMY, SCHEMING TWITS DOING?

 Well let's see now. Firstly they are not committing to pump, pump and more pump. Oh no just because they bragged, lied, boasted, lied,  shouted, lied about the wonders of hydraulic containment for twenty -five years (1991-2016) they aren't attacking our contaminated aquifers with even a tiny fraction of the pumping they themselves deemed necessary. They started cutting back on their costs back in 2016. They had never really hung in for long periods and achieved the pumping they said they could much less the TRIPLE and later DOUBLE the off-site pumping they (Chemtura/CRA) determined was necessary in November 2012. How can any honest person involved in this fiasco have the slightest respect for the dirty polluter, their impotent regulator and or the consultants working for them? The answer is simple. Honest people do NOT have the slightest respect for PROFESSIONAL LIARS and their fellow travellors such as the RMOW, Woolwich Twn,. GRCA. I expect that after watching their behaviour since 1989 I would gag having to sit with those filth.

O.K. so what are they committed to doing?  How about rewriting history, making excuses both old and new and generally patting each other on the backs and saying "What swell fellows are we!". I mean look at what they've accomplished.  They've reduced cleanup costs to the absolute minimum and less even as their failures have become more apparent. They have made a bunch of incompetent twits at TRAC believe in themselves. I am of course referring to Allan Deal and Luis Almeida of GHD amongst them. Oh I nearly forgot. The dishonourable and corrupt Ontario Ministry of Environment are rewriting the Control Order or whatever name they are giving their optional, only if you feel up to it, suggestions certainly not orders or commands. This new document will mostly be discussed in private between Lanxess and the MECP (Ministry of Enhanced Corporate Pollution) although there will be some token once over by TRAC at the very least for appearances sake.. 

Finally the guilty parties will do some more studies. Just imagine almost twenty-seven years ago (August 1998) they started pumping the off-site municipal aquifers.  CPAC has known since early in 2012 that they didn't have a hope in succeeding and actually briefly had Woolwich Twn. support on that matter. A mere nearly thirteen years later Lanxess Canada feel the need to examine other proven cleanup technologies. 

WHY THE HELL ARE WE LEAVING THE LYING, CORRUPT PARTIES (FOXES) IN CHARGE OF THE HENHOUSE ?   

ARE WE ALL REALLY THIS STUPID OR DO WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING MORE CONCRETE?

K-W RECORD HAMMERS CHEMTURA/UNIROYAL IN OCTOBER 2016

 

The front page story on October 21, 2016 was titled "Chemtura starts offsite chemical probe". It was followed by a Record Editorial on October 28, 2016 titled "Get serious about Elmira cleanup".News flash K-W Record: Uniroyal and successors have never been serious about cleaning up Elmira. It's all been for show and for appearances.  It's now eight years later and what has been done? Not a single shovel full of contaminated downstream soils and sediments have been removed from the Canagagigue Creek.  Our aquifers are not only admitted to being still well above drinking water standards for NDMA and chlorobenzene (& likely other chemicals) but all guilty parties are dancing a jig of joy for their public relations acumen and how their false and pathetic excuses are being lapped up. Perhaps that's why they call them lapdogs rather than watchdogs?

The so called chemical probe on the east side Stroh property was just one more sham among many. Fifteen centimetres or 5.9 inches is how deep those swine sampled the soils. Despite this they got tons of hits above health criteria.  They sampled perhaps 15 metres eastwards from the Uniroyal property line with Stroh. 

As far as the Record's Editorial let me ask them this. If Chemtura's and the M.O. E.'s  cleanup wasn't serious eight years ago what the hell is it now? A JOKE, a FARCE, a SCAM ? All they are doing right now is smoothing and fine tuning their excuses as to why they are still decades away from restoring the Elmira Aquifers to drinking water standards. I and a few other CPAC members have been telling the media and the corrupt Ministry of Environment for decades as to what needed doing and they have only been listening to the company's bought and paid for experts (QPs) as well as a few co-opted semi citizens on the Woolwich hand picked committee who have benefited personally from giving concessions to the polluter. 

Come on K-W Record WE STILL NEED YOU TO DO YOUR JOB!   

WOW AND WE THINK THAT WE HAVE A CRISIS HERE IN CANADA

 

"Trudeau must go, " "Trudeau and the Liberals have lost the confidence of the House" etc. etc. etc.  True or not I would suggest that Canada's problems fade into obscurity next to say Israel's, Syria's Russia's and the Ukraine. If the resignation and following critical letter by a senior Cabinet Minister signal the end of Justin Trudeau then what on earth does the detonation of a bomb in the heart of Moscow targeting a senior Russian General do? General Kirillov was the head of the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical authority and the Ukraine are publicly taking "credit" for his assassination. He had been accused by the Ukraine of using chemical weapons in the war there between Russia and the Ukraine. 

Then we learn that Israel, all of course in the name of Israeli security, are now occupying lands inside Syria. First they destroyed the Syrian Air Force via bombing and now they have troops stationed on and past the Golan Heights contrary to a treaty they signed along with Syria and the U.N. around 1974. Apparently ridding themselves of Hamas isn't enough nor is seriously damaging Hezbolah. This has been followed by incursions into Lebanon, Syria and possibly even Iran.    

Does any of this even in the slightest explain why Canadian politicians and authorities appear so slow and sloth like in their response to environmental problems from destroyed groundwater to climate change? Does this explain why the Canadian government are hell bent on scapegoating legal Canadian firearms owners for the governments own failures to stop gun smuggling across the U.S. border or to remove illegal firearms from the hands of street gangs in Toronto? 

Maybe Canadian politicians lack the imagination to be really bad buggars or maybe they are just better at hiding their foulest of deeds.

RECENT EXCELLENT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

 

Sebastian at least for the moment seems to be sticking to his membership with the Totally Rotten And Corrupt Committee (TRAC). Despite that error he is however producing some excellent critiques of Lanxess and GHD's (consultants) nonsense and ever wishful thinking masquerading as science.

In his December 5/24 critique to TRAC Sebastian takes issue with GHD's undying optimism that despite gross pumping failures and shutdowns , all is well hydraulic containment wise.  Sebastian states "In the monthly progress reports, GHD has a note at the bottom of the average daily pumping rates table stating: "...the Target Average pumping rates is set at 90% of the set point rate. GHD recommends that Lanxess maintain the target pumping rates greater than or equal to these rates."  The combined on-site pumping rates are now below the 50% mark and have been for months." 

So GHD writes one thing for public consumption (progress reports) but tells TRAC the absolute opposite. God how I despise professional liars.

Secondly Sebastian responded to GHD's nonsense about the  low lying "Gap" area draining Uniroyal Chemical toxins onto the Stroh property. Oh my Lord to have to deal with those GHD second string (literally) twits yet again. Sebastian stated "Let me just add that this response by GHD is typical.  The answers appear superficially plausible but do not have the details to support their always optimistic conclusions (to the company at least). There is a continued absence of professional detachment and of a critical disposition on the part of GHD which has gone on far too long as far as groundwater remediation in Elmira is concerned. We deserve better."

Meanwhile mayor Shantz and Woolwich Council continue to cover their eyes and ears and hold their nose while supporting this sham of a cleanup in Elmira. Our media have also grossly failed us. Where is the Elmira Independent when we so desperately need it?

OUR GOVERNMENTS ROUTINELY INDEMNIFY LOCAL CORPORATIONS AGAINST ADVERSE SITUATIONS

 

Two examples are obvious and neither was in the public interest. Safety-Kleen were indemnified against additional contamination found behind Breslube in Breslau in order to get Safety-Kleen to buy the company. The problem was there was a lot of contamination between Breslube and the Grand River in both the soils and groundwater. It included LNAPLs (oils) floating on the surface of the groundwater as well as lots of solvents, some chlorinated. There were also PCBs mixed in with the floating LNAPLS.  This contamination was serious enough to eventually shut down the two municipal wells close to the river known as K70 and K71 (K  for Kitchener). Of course the Region has failed to come clean with the public about this.

The second example has to do with the sale of Varnicolor Chemical to Phillips Environmental who wanted to keep the company going as a solvent recycler. The Ministry of Environment had a Control Order insisting on a full aerial and VERTCIAL examination of sub-surface contamination.  Gosh though Phillips were a little worried about the vertical examination and balked. Next thing you know  that cleanup condition is gone. This was about 1993 or 94. Guess what? To this day there are still Varnicolor Chemical solvents deep in the Municipal aquifer underneath the site. The MOE gave Phillips an Indemnity that they didn't have to go looking for the deep contamination that eventually we found was indeed there. 

Three bodies made separate deals with Uniroyal Chemical back in the 1990s allegedly for costs that they had incurred from Uniroyal's contamination. The Region of Waterloo may have gotten $40 million for their pipeline costs, lab costs etc. but it likely came with strings attached. Or maybe the $40 million was both costs and a bribe. Maybe it depends upon how you look at it. Regardless the Region backed off on DNAPL s just like the Township and the MOE. These last two also had their own agreements. We know that the MOE agreement was a sweetheart agreement that saved Uniroyal hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs for both DNAPLs as well as "new" contamination found. In exchange for settling over the summer of 1991 the Ontario MOE were not publicly humiliated at the renewed Environmental Appeal Board hearings in the fall of 1991. In fact those hearings were shut down. The Township also settled for costs with Uniroyal but you can bet the farm that Uniroyal squeezed them but good probably in regards to "friendly" public consultation only.

This folks is how our governments deal behind our backs with corporate big shots flexing their financial muscles.

WEIRD ELMIRA/UNIROYAL HISTORY BY GERRY THOMPSON ON ROB DEUTSCHMANN'S PODCAST

  This particular Podcast (Old Grey Mare) is an hour long and was transmitted on May 14, 2022.  Full disclosure I had a small bias in favour of Rob Deutschmann based upon his persistent kicking sand in the WRPS and their stupid "civilian" Board's face. Gerry Thompson, former CAO of Waterloo Region, I doubt I've ever met although I have a tiny bias regarding his perceived closeness to Ken Seiling (in my eyes). 

The very early question from Rob to Gerry was why the Ministry of Environment (MOE) had not found NDMA much sooner than 1989. Oddly Gerry hummed and hawed but never said what the public had been told namely that the MOE had never tested for NDMA before. Personally I've always believed that the MOE lied about that (and so much more) and maybe Gerry forgot or he simply didn't want to repeat the lie.

Gerry also responded to a question about the MOE 's behaviour and actions thusly: "The MOE talk but do nothing."  Furthermore he said that "...the MOE has neither the ability nor the will to do anything...". Gerry also suggested that Uniroyal burying drums was "probably illegal".  Now by this time I'm wondering if this interview done in May 2022 was past Gerry's prime however he certainly sounded confident and sharp with his words.

Oddly Gerry hinted that the other parties to the legal action for costs seemed to be primed and ready to go. He suggested that Uniroyal already had Conestoga Rovers (hydrogeological consultants) on board as well as a number of Bay St. lawyers. My comment is that it's almost as if they'd been waiting for the MOE's announcement for months.

Gerry also suggested that initially it was thought that NDMA could be absorbed through the skin hence showers and baths were dangerous. Later on Gerry felt that this characteristic of NDMA was found to be false. Now that is not my recollection however that one I'd prefer to check out properly before calling Gerry nuts or wrong. By the way by this time in the podcast I'm really enjoying Gerry's comments but I've repeatedly  screamed in frustration at my monitor because of Rob's constant interruptions. His comments are not remotely as interesting as his guest's are but O.K. by the end of the podcast his interruptions had become less egregious.

Regarding dealing with Uniroyal and David Ash Gerry stated  that "they argued over everything..." and that David was a company man.". Now at one point Rob said something about "early detection" of NDMA which made absolutely no sense in the context of this whole interview.

Now this next one by Gerry is a whopper and one reason over the decades that I've lost respect for the Region of Waterloo. Gerry said that the contamination into the "Gig" was greatly reduced before "it could begin to migrate into the watershed (Grand R.)". Sorry Gerry but Uniroyal's toxic crap had been flowing down the Canagagigue Creek and into the Grand River since the mid and late 1940s a whole four decades before it was allegedly "discovered" in the Elmira south wellfield (E7/E9). Also the hydraulic containment of the aquifer discharging into the Canagagigue didn't begin until 1997.  Therefore more than fifty years for the dissolved contaminants as well as the undissolved but attached to sediments DDT and dioxins to also migrate a measly five miles downstream. 

Another huge problem for me is Gerry's claim that NDMA was a by-product of  herbicide Agent Orange production.  My knowledge is that NDMA was a by-product of  a couple of different Uniroyal product groups such as ADAM and another which escapes me at the moment. Probably what Gerry was thinking of was dioxin (2,3,7,8 TCDD) was a toxic by-product of Agent Orange .

Gerry did O.K. even for someone so closely involved in the crisis thirty plus years ago. If he did zero preparation for his podcast then the errors are somewhat explainable. Otherwise not so much. Fortunately there are still a few citizens around who can hold the history true.

 

WOOLWICH TWN./COUNCIL KNOWINGLY ALLOW & PROMOTE FALSE TESTIMONY AT THE TRAC COMMITTEE

 They do this by having the likes of Joe Ricker, Luis Almeida and Allan Deal speaking as mouthpieces for Lanxess Canada.  On another note, Sebastian I saw you working hard to get the truth out at last Monday's TRAC meeting.  You are opposed by professional, albeit sloppy liars as well as Woolwich officials (mayor, councillor(s?), Tiffany ($$$) ). I see absolutely no one on TRAC assisting you. Are they all that stupid, uninformed, corrupt, apathetic or are they under some kind of career duress? TRAC have two names namely Technical Remediation Advisory Committee or my preferred one of Totally Rotten And Corrupt. It is time Sebastian and you know it.

Further lies, drivel and bullsh**  from Monday's TRAC meeting include Tiffany's suggestion that the ridge is only 1/2 a metre high.  Nice try there. Go read the topographical contours and you will find it is higher. Also the contour lines have been conveniently altered off-site on the Stroh property.  Susan Bryant, decades ago, in  a fit of moral outrage stated that Uniroyal/Chemtura "adjust the science according to their needs". This is what they've always done and continue to do. Both Luis and Jason Rice of the MECP stated that there are no issues with the lack of data on the east side (Stroh property) and with the exceedances of DDD and 2,3,7,8 TCDD found in the Stroh Drain . Those dioxins were approximately 30 times greater than the federal sediment criteria for 2,3,7,8 TCDD. Allan Deal also categorically claimed (at least until he reverses himself) that dissolved concentrations of chlorobenzene will always keep increasing if there is DNAPL nearby. Horse manure. Sometimes maybe but the solubility of chlorobenzene is low especially in multi-mixtures of  dozens or hundreds of solvents etc. Mr. Deal then turned around and said that if the dissolved chlorobenzene concentrations are decreasing then there is no DNAPL nearby. Again horse manure! It all depends on other factors including well placed pumping wells beside the sub-surface free phase DNAPL pumping 24/7 over a period of years. That will lower dissolved concentrations of chlorobenzene while it still exists sub-surface as a DNAPL (dense non aqueous phase liquid). Mr. Deal's last comment may open a window into his incredibly bad understanding of DNAPLS. He claimed that his definition of Effective Solubilty is the presence of other solvents that may increase or decrease solubility. Wow what I've read and been told is that there are a few co-solvents out there, but not many, that can increase a chemical compound's solubility. Overall the more chemical compounds dissolved in groundwater drastically reduces the solubility of either chlorobenzene or whatever particular one you are looking at. Mr. Deal is a plain and simple DNAPL DENIER along with Luis and other self-serving semi-credentialed individuals.

All the parties who signed on to this conspiracy to pretend to clean the Elmira Aquifers and Creek should burn in hell. That includes citizen co-optees both the well known ones and the lesser so. Their presence engaging with the enemy is reminiscent of collaborators during the war. They did it for self-serving reasons and profited from it to their shame, then and now regardless of the magnitude of the issue (i.e. war vs. environmental degradation). Many human beings have at best a tiny moral compass and many of them rise to positions of authority (Donald Trump). 

Meanwhile Allan Deal and others venture their opinions on hydrogeological matters beyond their knowledge or scope. They have been indoctrinated to believe that their opinions have merit. They DO NOT. In fact their opinions are always HIGHLY SUSPECT. Produce relevant, not cherry picked evidence at all times. Your word and opinions are biased, bought and paid for and far too often inaccurate and misleading.

LANXESS TAG TEAM IDIOTS - LUIS & ALLAN D. ARE SETTING NEW LOWS IN INCOMPETENTCY

 I forgot to mention here yesterday that that turd Luis actually suggested that Sebastian was confused and was claiming that water ran uphill. Hmm "turd" could be a little strong as it implies that Luis intentionally attempted to undermine Sebastian's credibility so let's assume that Luis merely was confused and or is stupid and actually thinks that Sebastian said that which he did not. There were other misstatements (lies?) noted in the notes I made of the TRAC video by Luis. He stated that none of the aerial photos showed any kind of pathway or stressed vegetation from Uniroyal over to the Stroh property. In fact there are and while 1964 isn't very clear it is one of them. There is a much better one published by Conestoga Rovers in one of their GP-1, GP-2 reports around 2013. It was a non CPAC citizen who pointed it out that caused me to go on my self-guided tour (with R. Stroh permission).

First of all question #4 had asked GHD if they had done any calculations to determine chlorobenzene's Effective Solubility whether on or off site. The answer was an unsurprising no. This despite Jaimie Connolly (MOE) having done so years ago during DNAPL investigations on the former Uniroyal site.  Both Allan D. and Luis A. buttressed each other's frankly pathetic understanding of DNAPLS during their presentations.  Allan D. suggested yet again that he hadn't used the 1% Rule to deny DNAPL presence. Such a liar. Luis or Allan (tag team) also suggested that concentrations of dissolved chlorobenzene from pumping well W4 were around 4,000 ppb. He did this with exactly zero data backup presented. He also suggested that fifteen years later concentrations had dropped to below 80 ppb. the drinking water standard, again with zero data backup. Luis you are incompetent with either a poor memory or poor credibility or both. Your word is meaningless to the well informed. Produce the data for us. You also claimed that on-site pumping well PW4 had concentrations around 4,000 ppb. and that they have not decreased over decades of pumping. Listen you twit. That is nonsense. Concentrations at PW4, OW62 and OW88 all huddled together have exceeded 4,000 ppb. by orders of magnitude decades ago precisely because there was/is FREE Phase DNAPL present in the sub-surface and Bob Hillier (MOE) brought a sample form OW88 to UPAC in the early 90s.

Secondly DNAPL dissolves slowly hence it is difficult to get high concentrations of chlorobenzene at any time much less when an aquifer is being pumped 24/7. Of course concentrations will drop especially at off-site pumping well W4 that was pumped 24/7 for approx. fifteen years. Let's see the concentrations today and if they remain low then clearly the off-site chlorobenzene DNAPL at OW57-32 and near the Howard St. Water Tower had a  much smaller initial volume/weight etc. than on-site PW4 area.

One of the overhead Handouts (pg. 62) presented suggested that significant cosolvents in the per cent range or higher by total solvent composition could affect chlorobenzene concentrations. For the love of all that is holy you don't want to try to explain what you mean there. You will screw that up as well. The final point on this Handout (pg. 62) states that concentrations of unnamed VOCs and SVOCs in the off-site aquifers are in the parts per billion range and are not expected to have an impact on effective solubilities. Really? Without doing any calculations at all you can figure out Effective Solubilities in your head. Also again I might add not a single concentration result (with well # & date) is presented as backup. Finally you don't list the names of the VOCs and SVOCs you are referring to. Did you check a half dozen of them or 100 different Uniroyal solvents off site? I call BULLSHIT on that one. 

EXACTLY HOW THICK IS WOOLWICH TWN. HIDING BEHIND THE LIKES OF LUIS ALMEIDA & ALLAN DEAL OF GHD?

 

Monday night's TRAC meeting was at least as pathetic as the earlier ones that I have seen mostly on-line. O.M.G. but the brass, ignorance, horse manure and just plain lies are beyond any limits. Clearly when you can hide your lies behind donkeys selling donkey excrement then you no longer fear anybody on that committee calling you to account.  Sebastian tried and he tried hard. He did his homework and he had his facts in order. What he did not have was an honest venue or an honest Chair person. He politely dismantled Luis bullsh** about higher elevations and about the "Gap" not presenting as a possible contaminated area. After 35 years of arguing with bought and paid for credentialed  QPs I have learned that as long as the Chair (Nathan Cadeau) is either uninformed or corrupt, combined with the bulk of members being the same then absolutely any garbage masquerading as fact or truth will fly.  What I found most shameful was how Nathan allowed Luis to interrupt and shut Sebastian down (along with that crapper Hadley-Lanxess) and NONE of the other TRAC members said "Hey wait a minute. I want to hear  the  rest of what Sebastian is telling us." Clearly  TRAC have been given their marching instructions and that is to never pay any attention to Sebastian or for that matter myself. Worse yet they appear willing to let Sebastian blow in the breeze at the whim of corrupt officials and professional bullshit artists. 

Luis's magical swale on the west side of toxic ponds RPE 1-5 discharged from an open ditch into an open swamp and yet through the physical, chemical and psychological properties of wishful thinking and money all the contents then took flight over the swamp (which discharges east into the Stroh property) and from there the contents discharged into former gravel pit GP-1.  Anybody stupid enough to believe this Lanxess/GHD bullcrap will believe anything for a price. 

So Sandy, David, Nathan, Jason, Tiffany, Luis, Allan D., Hadley and others just name your price . Clearly you have and will continue to contort reality to make Lanxess and the Ontario MECP happy. Surely you will personally benefit from that?  

MONTROSE CHEMICAL LOS ANGELES - CALIFORNIA - *** DDT *** CHLOROBENZENE *** BENZENE *** REMIND YOU OF UNIROYAL CHEMICAL HERE IN ELMIRA, ONT.?

 

A 13 acre site, smaller than Uniroyal Chemical's in Elmira. A small amount of total DDT buried at sea but still millions of pounds. Toxic wildlife effects fourty plus years later. We are advised that chlorobenzene is one of the main components of DDT production. This site (Montrose Chemical) has been a SUPERFUND site for decades. Lawsuits were filed against it by both state and federal governments. Approximately $140 million spent to date on environmental issues. The site is riddled with DNAPLS (chlorobenzene). One of the remediation methods specific to DNAPL removal is known as ERH or Electrical Resistance Heating. Aecom Engineering & Consulting had provided a cleanup plan with parts of the site being cleaned within 32 to 50 years and other parts between 3,700 and 5,800 years! The EPA and other authorities rejected those cleanup plans as not timely. 

Note Woolwich Township: Various California authorities strongly condemned cleanup plans as "grossly inadequate", " absurd",  "fatally flawed", "unrealistic", "short sighted", "inaccurate" etc.  They were not subtle nor were they particularly polite when being given either misinformation or the runaround. I propose that symposiums and seminars be held to assist municipalities in dealing with recalcitrant polluters. They could be titled " 10 Step Process To Remove the Inherent Deferential, Uninformed and Unequal Balance of Power between multi national, multi billion dollar corporations and their  local municipal councils."

We at CPAC back in the 1990s and early 2000s were told that DDT and dioxins (2,3,7,8 TCDD) were both insoluble and immobile in water. We responded that Uniroyal's groundwater however was filled with   solvents which could mobilize many allegedly insoluble compounds including DDT and dioxins. Well guess what? These on-line technical reports concerning the Montrose Chemical cleanup specifically state that DDT is soluble in chlorobenzene. In fact it's solubility is high with about 74 g of DDT dissolving in only a 100 ml. of chlorobenzene. Further statements indicate that chlorobenzene contaminated groundwater along with DDT in it, will eventually cause the DDT to precipitate out. ".  "If this occurs, DDT may be a mobile toxic contaminant in the aquifer." . Funny how none of this has ever been explained to past UPAC/CPAC members or to the public. I guess consultants to polluters do not feel duty bound to share information that is distressing to their polluting clients.

Despite Allan Deal's (GHD) ridiculous statements and comments to TRAC this fall, CHLOROBENZENE IS DNAPL. It is the presence of both free phase and residual chlorobenzene DNAPL that has estimates of 3,700-5,800 years for cleanup by Aecom. Personally I've been aware that DNAPL in the subsurface can take decades to centuries to fully dissolve but these estimates even shock me.  What has also shocked me is the wanton disrespect for the truth about chlorobenzene/DNAPLS that so many here in Elmira have embraced including our hopeless Ministry of the Environment (MECP).   

DID UNIROYAL CHEMICAL DUMP 60 MILLION KILOGRAMS OF CHLOROBENZENE ON THEIR SITE BETWEEN 1945 AND 1970?

 

Wow but that's a huge number. Now keep in mind that we have a few other numbers at our disposal such as 160,000 to 175,000 gallons per day of toxic liquid wastes being discharged to possibly the east side ponds alone ( i.e. RPE 1-5). Now of course this daily dumping was not straight chlorobenzene. It was mixed in with benzene, toluene, xylenes, phenols, DDT, dioxins, 2,4-D and so much more. 

A few days ago I posted here that MORE THAN 3,300 kilograms of chlorobenzene was dumped on the Uniroyal site. Now this figure came from Lanxess/GHD who were bragging about how much chlorobenzene had been removed from Elmira's groundwater since pumping started in 1998. Well this weekend I started thinking about that figure (3,300 KG.) and something leapt out at me.  Chlorobenzene is a classic DNAPL chemical with a high density (greater than 1) and a low solubility. For example NDMA has a Solubility of 1,000,000 mg per litre (ppm.) whereas Chlorobenzene has a Solubility of only 466.3 mg/l (ppm.).  Therefore to put it simply for every gram or kilogram of chlorobenzene that has been discharged on the Uniroyal site only a tiny amount actually dissolves in the groundwater albeit it does exceed the 80 ppb. Ontario Drinking Water Standard. 

Can this knowledge of Solubility concentrations be worked backwards to calculate a minimum total weight of chlorobenzene dumped into unlined pits and ponds between 1945 and 1970 when the Elmira Sewage Treatment plant was finally successfully up and running and Uniroyal wastes went through there for treatment? Keep in mind these retention pits and ponds were how all the chlorobenzene ended up firstly in the groundwater under Uniroyal's site and then later in Elmira's groundwater . I believe calculations can be done although I will admit that I am checking with authorities having better math skills than I.  

A couple of additional points. Any calculations determining possible total weight of chlorobenzene discharged might assume that the concentrations of chlorobenzene found in groundwater are all very high perhaps even approaching the maximum Solubility. In fact this does not seem to occur other than extremely rarely. In fact groundwater concentrations are often only at 1% (or lower) of the maximum Solubility. Hence in fact when this is incorporated into one's mathematics I believe that it suggests that it would take a whole lot more than 60 million kilograms of chlorobenzene dumped onto Uniroyal's site to produce 3,300 kilograms of dissolved chlorobenzene being removed from the groundwater. 

Clearly just like surface water contaminant concentrations; groundwater concentrations of some chemicals (chlorobenzene) grossly underestimates the total volume or weight discharged to the natural environment in the first place. In one sense this is a disincentive to polluters to minimize their discharges if the totals appear to be minimized by the process of dissolution. 

I expect that GHD will shortly sharpen their pencils and if they are smart refuse to release their calculations. Fortunately for us they usually aren't all that smart.   

EGOS, BRAVADO, ALLEGED PROFESSIONALISM & OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO PROPER CLEANUP

 

Around 2008  I gave a Delegation to CPAC in which I described ISCO or In Situ Chemical Oxidation. ISCO is a well known, well established in place (i.e. "in situ") subsurface remediation that breaks down chlorinated solvents among other things. What should have been  particularly interesting to CPAC members who in their infinite stupidity had already lost their most knowledgeable and combat hardened member (moi) was that ISCO had just been used successfully in Cambridge to break down TCE  (Trichloroethylene) at the Northstar Aerospace site.  This environmental calamity affected the Bishop St. community causing disease and death. CPAC continued their stupidity under the leadership of Pat M. and Susan B. by not asking questions or embracing the knowledge provided by yours truly.

Then around 2010 or so Chemtura (Uniroyal) proudly announced that they were doing a pilot study  near pumping well W3R of ISCO.  Allegedly the pilot test failed although at the time it seemed kind of a rushed job throughout. Sure enough by 2015/2016 the new TAG Chair Dr. Richard Jackson was all over Chemtura for their pathetic and Mickey Mouse pilot test of ISCO. Dr. Jackson spared no contempt for their amateurish attempts at testing ISCO.

Lo and behold Lanxess are now talking about trying ISCO yet again! They are also looking at a couple of biological forms of remediation along with ISCR which stands for In Situ Chemical Reduction. Now we old hands are never impressed when a new initiative of any kind is announced. Afterall we have learned from Uniroyal and successors that talk is always much cheaper than actual cleanup. The other thing that we have learned is that they will never give even the tiniest credit to anyone who they have not prechosen for their ideological flexibility, willingness to bend like a contortionist  and ability to ignore the obvious when necessary. 

By the way these are all established cleanup remediations and could have and should have been implemented ten, twenty or thirty years ago. Woolwich Township, TRAC, Lanxess, GHD and the MECP will ignore any discussion of that of course.    

SINCE 6:15 am THIS MORNING THE TRAC PACKAGE HAS EXPANDED TO 132 pages. MORE THAN 3,300 KILOGRAMS OF CHLOROBENZENE DUMPED ON THE UNIROYAL SITE

 

Guess how many TRAC members will actually read those additional pages this weekend as well as all the rest of the package? Yup about that many (less than the fingers on one hand).  The additional 24 pages appear to be at least partially overheads in which GHD will be misrepresenting the four questions from TRAC they have to date answered so incompletely and poorly. The two I focused on were the failure to properly test the soils and sediments throughout the Stroh property albeit closest to the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) as well as the so called DNAPL issues both on and off the former Uniroyal Chemical site. The good news here for Lanxess/GHD/MECP is that TRAC members are fully satisfied and willing to move on no matter how tenuous, unlikely, incomplete, unreasonable or just plain stupid the answers that they are given. Afterall isn't TRAC's mantra  "WE CARE & WE QUESTION; NOT OUR ISSUE IF THEY LIE TO US" ?

The lying goes back decades and continues to this day. Susan B., Sylvia B., Pat M. all were long ago co-opted and making private deals not in the public interest with Uniroyal Chemical and successors. These deals included agreeing with the polluter that DNAPLS were a non issue which is outrageous. Yes I can believe that a couple of thimbles of chlorobenzene would have quickly, fully dissolved in the shallow aquifers as well as any tiny amount that moved into deeper aquifers. However by Lanxess/GHD's own admissions 3,300 KILOGRAMS have already been removed from the Elmira Aquifers since 1998 and it's still going.  Furthermore nearly 2,000 KILOGRAMS of that chlorobenzene are unaccounted for via normal production use and waste percentages.  Clearly there were large spills of this classic DNAPL chemical with a low solubility and a density greater than 1 (i.e. a "sinker"). These numbers are also in their November 18/2024 "Screening of Enhanced Technologies for Offsite Groundwater Remediation of the Elmira Drinking Water Aquifer" (page 3).

Evidence of free phase and residual DNAPL presence both on and off site is very strong. One of the excuses for continuing high NDMA concentrations in our groundwater is because of the very low drinking water standard of 9 parts per trillion (.009 ppb.). Meanwhile chlorobenzene with a drinking water standard of 80 parts per billion (80 ppb.) is still in our Municipal Lower Aquifer at 173 ppb. and the Municipal Upper at 123 ppb.  For that you can thank the sloppy handling and disposal of chlorobenzene resulting in DNAPLs throughout their site as even stated by Frank Rovers (CRA) at a meeting attended by Susan B. back in the 90s. 

LAST TRAC MEETING WAS 2 1/2 WEEKS AGO AND NOW NEXT ONE (Mon. DEC. 9/24) HAS 108 ADDITIONAL PAGES OF READING

 

Please I was a formal UPAC & CPAC member for ten years plus I still read these packages cover to cover and guess what: I am one of the few to do so. Other members whether lay persons (citizens) or so called professionals simply do not have either the time or the will to do that much reading prior to the two and three hour meetings. The credentialed ones in particular feel that their civic duty is being fulfilled when they volunteer for a municipal committee and then show up most of the time. Believe me lots of them struggle to do even that. This is a big reason that it is so easy for Lanxess, and the MECP to snow even the professionally trained TRAC members. Think of (professional) hockey teams playing each other but only one is getting paid for their game time, their preparation time, their travel time plus expenses. Volunteers let their volunteer work slip before they let their income producing work slip.

I'm still reading the 108 pages I received three days ago. Some is easy and some is tough sledding but it all takes time. The AGENDA alone is 1 1/2 typed pages worth. The Minutes of the last meeting (Nov. 14/24) are only 9 pages and all the rest is new items i.e. "Updates". "Other Business" and "Correspondence Received" . Much of that is propaganda such as the new MECP 2028 Order to replace the old failed one. So now we get a new failed one. There will be an Update on the HHERA  which ignores the fatal sampling flaws in it from the very beginning. Screening of Enhanced Technologies for the off-site groundwater aquifers is another waste of time as if any of these worked then why weren't they embraced and used twenty or thirty years ago? Oh right because they cost more money to implement than talking about this cleanup will ever cost.. 

At the moment with little to no real discussion we are advised that the technologies being retained for further study include ISCO, ISCR, Bio-Augmentation and Bio-Stimulation.  All of these plus all of the rejected ones have some merit but once again the polluter is deciding everything including which will move forward and which won't. Look why doesn't Woolwich Township and the Region simply shut TRAC down for the good it does and declare everything clean? The wildlife in and around the downstream Creek won't complain  nor will the Old Order Mennonites who's health is affected. Certainly the MECP could divert more money say to ignoring Grassy Narrows and other environmental crises but do so in a more smooth and professional manner.

IT SURE LOOKS TO ME AS IF TRAC HAVE ABANDONED EVEN THE APPEARANCE OF TRANSPARENCY

 O.K. so over a week ago TRAC's Support person (Stacey) refused to send my latest two critiques of GHD 's  (Luis A.) responses to TRAC's questions on to TRAC. Now that while problematic and not supportive of either accountability or transparency rested on Stacey's and Woolwich's shoulders. Meanwhile  I had already sent  these two strong critiques of Luis A.'s nonsense (his responses to Questions ! & 4) along to TRAC members and administration. Now frankly I don't give a fig for Woolwich's process and procedures because they routinely are designed to insulate and protect the guilty and dishonest versus doing anything positive or in the public interest. In fact this whole 34 year admitted failure to achieve drinking water standards or clean up the downstream toxins in the Canagagigue Creek has been an exercise in manipulation, dishonesty and deceit.  Woolwich Township have been front and centre in assisting this scam of the public. 

Magically it appears as if my two latest critiques will not be added to TRAC's correspondence list or included in the Minutes of their last meeting.  Compared to the brazen and deceitful actions Woolwich have taken over the years to support the conspiracy that everything possible is being done to clean up Uniroyal Chemical's messes, this is par for the course. All meaningful opposition must be silenced by whatever means possible. This included defamation of Woolwich volunteers (CPAC members) in Woolwich Township's  April 9, 2015 letter describing an alleged but phony "stakeholders' meeting" held at the Woolwich Administration building. Uniroyal and corporate successors along with fellow travellors are committed to walking away from their responsibilities while selling their self-serving version of reality to the public.    

DISHONEST, PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR LIARS HAVE CONFIDENCE IN LANXESS, GHD & THE MECP

 

I mean apparently they are so far down the road of dishonesty they likely feel that there is only one direction to go. I would suggest that that sole, remaining dishonest direction has them hot on the footsteps of  "Thelma and Louise" and we all know how that ended (mighty crash etc.). Maybe their goal is simply to pass on before their behaviour is fully exposed to the world. Maybe their goal is even more modest such as simply getting out of politics or various bureaucracies prior to the public recognition of their self-serving, anti public interest . Icons such as Peter Nygard (still pending?), Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein and a trove of others likely will exceed the size of their disgrace and public exposure but it will be seen and enjoyed nevertheless by the very few who have honestly opposed them.

The Agenda is out for next Monday's TRAC meeting and hoo boy are TRAC ever getting their hands even dirtier by participating in the entire sham of a process. Sebastian and a couple of others can honestly claim that they spoke up on a few significant issues but they are being used as window dressing by the really bad ones. In hindsight does anyone remember the name of a moderate or two within Adolph Hitler's Cabinet? O.K. if you feel that that comparison is too strong or stark how about moderates within any group who refuse to resign for self-serving reasons  despite knowing that the group have either lost their way or never had found it. 

The Agenda for next Monday is full of attempts to bolster the impression that Lanxess and the MECP are seriously on the hunt for better remediation methods. They are merely ten, fifteen to thirty years behind the timeline necessary to actually have the Elmira Aquifers remediated. Even now they are admitting on page 7 of their Minutes of the last meeting (Nov. 14/24) that even with a new initiative towards cleanup that NDMA for certain will require decades more time to occur.

Now keep in mind that it is the exact same organizations (Lanxess, CRA/GHD, MOE/MECP) who swore to Elmira citizens from 1990 through to almost 2017 that YES they would clean up the aquifers by 2028. That's over twenty-five years that they kept INSISTING  that everything was under control when numerous citizens, professionals and amateurs knew it couldn't be done. Then around 2016 sometime we heard the first peeps of  "...oh gosh this is harder than we thought. Maybe we won't get it done by 2028." That is now a crescendo of voices with predictions of the Elmira Aquifers achieving drinking water standards by 2050 or 2060.

I no longer believe a word they say. Why would I? They have lied, lied and then lied some more. DNAPL coverups continue to this day. They still admit on page 16 that there is approximately 2,000 kg. of "excess" chlorobenzene been discharged to the natural environment. That is most likely via free phase DNAPL discharge of raw chlorobenzene and that is why despite NDMA being difficult to achieve it's very low drinking water standard (9 ppt.); we still have lots of chlorobenzene in our Elmira Aquifers well above drinking water standards. If I know exactly where this free phase DNAPL migrated to off-site then why allegedly doesn't Lanxess, GHD and the MECP?  

Hence Elmira citizens feel free to believe whatever rubbish these parties tell you. It's always self-serving and intended to save them cleanup expenditures.

THE HYPOCRISY BEHIND OUR ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

 

"Polluter Pays" is a good one. Here in Elmira the taxpayers are on the hook for 50% of the cleanup costs of the aquifers not underneath the former Uniroyal Chemical (i.e. "off-site"). Why are the taxpayers on the hook for these sums? Uniroyal dumped toxic wastes willy nilly both on and off their site essentially at will. The Ontario Ministry of Environment were mandated to control these discharges and failed to do so properly. The result is the mess that we still have today and for which taxpayers continue to pay.

Our environmental laws with assistance from corporate lobbyists have focused solely on off-site impacts. Therefore . theoretically at least if a polluter could dig a big enough and deep enough hole, lined with say steel they could simply dump everything into that.  The problem is that our earth and waters are interconnected.  Dr. Gail Krantzberg (McMaster), years ago at CPAC, stated that every toxic waste that Uniroyal, spilled, dumped or  placed on or into their property will eventually leave their property. This can be via volatolization as liquids evaporate or it can be via groundwater movement, surface water erosion and or even soil gas migration. So what do progressive polluters do? Why they hire talent, QPs, consultants and anybody else who will sell their bull while pretending to be independent of the polluter themselves. They cut down forests to write reports stating that nothing has left their site. Dead fish downstream just blame somebody else. Odours and colours in Canagagigue Creek then lets do another study and waste another couple of years "discussing" it. Anything rather than clean up their own messes.

Then of course well off polluters who are big fish in a small community can easily overwhelm local councils. Between the equally guilty Ontario Ministry of Environment on side with natural attenuation and hydraulic containment of  industrially contaminated aquifers, local councils have few resources. In fact it is the MOE/MECP they turn to for assistance. The system has been corrupted beyond repair and that's exactly how polluters like it. Relatively small fry like Varnicolor Chemical or smaller can be put through their paces by the MECP.  Uniroyal/Lanxess just laugh at them because multi national, multi billion dollar corporations have much deeper pockets and budgets to play in the courts with. Again even our courts have lost their independence of the unholy dollar.