LOCAL GOOD NEWS: CANAGAGIGUE CREEK IS AS TOXIC AS IT'S BEEN FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS BUT BETTER THAN IT WAS THIRTY TO FOURTY YEARS AGO

 

The headline above demonstrates what passes for environmental cleanup and improvement in Woolwich Township particularly between polluters and politicians.

These results are from the recently released 2025 Biomonitoring Report. DDT and metabolites (mostly DDE) in fish tissues are above the CCME (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment) Guidelines of 14 ng/g for several reaches in the Creek on the Lanxess (Uniroyal) property.  The guideline is 14 ng/g and the concentrations in Shiners and Bluntnose Minnows averaged between 50 and 70 ng/g, well above guidelines.  

PCB concentrations in fish tissues were all below the CCME Guidelines except for the upstream reach which is interesting. What is just upstream from the former Uniroyal that could have discharged PCBs in the past?

Dioxins and furans concentrations in fish tissues were above the CCME Guidelines of .71 pg/g TEQ (Toxic Equivalency) downstream but below them upstream from Lanxess/Uniroyal.  The downstream composite samples were around 1.6 pg/g which also indicates a decrease from  concentrations that were higher in the early 1990s but have been stable over the last five years. Now this result similar to the others allegedly can not be "...directly or statistically compared with historical MECP tissue data..." due to differences in sampling, fish species assessed and other reasons which I find very convenient and dubious. 

Somewhat strangely the dioxin and furan tissue concentrations in Shiners are higher in 2025 than they were in 2020. One excuse given is that the fish (shiners) averaged a little larger in the 2025 sampling than the earlier one.

All in all this study proves that doing nothing is cheaper than actually cleaning up and that eventually when you stop polluting, concentrations of toxic Persistent Organic Pollutants (Dioxins/DDT/PCBs etc.) tend to decrease over decades.

HOW WILL WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP RECONCILE DOWNSTREAM TOXIC HEALTH EFFECTS WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLACENCY ?

 

By environmental complacency I mean Woolwich Councils' arms length, treat the polluter with kid gloves behaviour and attitudes.  I mean appointing various "citizens" committees whose primary characteristics are deference and submission to credentialed suits. Even that twit Todd Cowan after appointing a more vigorous and aggressive group of knowledgeable citizens to CPAC in early 2011 bent over backwards to Uniroyal/Chemtura pressure to have me removed. That wasn't enough for the Chemtura scum who couldn't stand to have me present as a sub-committee (SWAT)  assisting CPAC along with Dr. Henry Regier and Rich Clausi. They yelled and screamed in late 2014 and the incoming queen (mayor) got rid of in later 2015 the entire CPAC of highly experienced, knowledgeable and even professionals in the field such as Henry, Ron and Graham. All this was to appease Chemtura who didn't like to have to justify or do more than simply pronounce from on high their inadequate cleanup plans.

The various polluters inadequate cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers is now on record. They have utterly failed after twenty-five years of loud and vigorous claims that all was well and they had the cleanup under control. They lied and they were supported all the way by the Ministry of Environment and by Woolwich Township. I and other citizens have talked to each and every  council since then and despite apparently listening they have done little or nothing. They continue to take all words from the MECP and now Lanxess Canada as gospel from proven deceivers. The only way Woolwich Township survive the last thirty-six years of selling out to a world class polluter is with the eyes closed, ears covered behaviour of local citizens. That is also truly disgraceful.

2025 RECEIVER BIOMONITORING REPORT LANXESS CANADA, ELMIRA, ONTARIO

 

This is a 313 page report which I have not read in its' entirety as yet. There are examinations of fish species, fish abundance, fish tissues as well as of other smaller lifeforms (benthic invertebrates) etc. in the Canagagigue Creek. The area examined is from immediately upstream of the Lanxess property to just downstream past their property. 

Regarding an examination of both numbers and types of fish found (via electrofishing) there certainly are larger numbers than there were back in 1998 as well as some improvement particularly in smallmouth bass numbers later in the season (i.e. August). That said the Creek certainly has not been remotely restored to its' glory days when it was a trout stream. Besides contaminants quite simply the Canagagigue no longer is a cold water stream/creek capable of sustaining cold water species such as trout. The Creek continues to this day to be dominated by coarse fish, highly tolerant of pollution, such as shiners, chubs, suckers and carp. Now and again a northern pike will wander by but they are very rare. 

Observations I made show as expected dioxins, furans , DDT and metabolytes in fish tissues. Some sample have only a few congeners others have many.  Regarding DDT breakdown products DDE is much more prevalent than DDD in fish tissues. What did concern me as well was the amount of samples with PCBs in them. Far too many clearly have been uptaking PCBs despite after 36 years of study neither the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP) nor the known polluter (Uniroyal/Lanxess) have ever shared the source with us. To me that is similar to just recently finding out that indeed as I've long said there is a second source of chlorobenzene to the Elmira drinking water aquifers, still unnamed. 

While mercury is a known contaminant in the Creek including in fish tissues I haven't found any sampling for mercury in fish tissues to date. That too may be convenient as Uniroyal Chemical also never took credit for mercury in the Creek as well as PCBs. The wildlife and the environment and human beings are suffering from these two contaminants as well but Lanxess and the MECP have shown little to no concern for them. If I had to guess I might suggest that the Woolwich Dam bears some responsibility for the mercury as natural mercury that is submerged can become the more toxic kind. Or not.

Yes there has been improvement from the sewer that Uniroyal Chemical turned the Canagagigue Creek into. There is however still a long ways to go with little apparent enthusiasm to do it.

WORKING FOR ORGANIZED CRIME

 

There's an old joke about a young boy telling his father that when he grows up he wants to work in organized crime. His father pauses then asks: "Government or private?" In my opinion it's not that the system per se is totally past redemption it's that just like private industry it's not necessarily the cream that rises to the top. Too often its' the yes men, the loyalists, the cronys and the good old boys who rise . Those already at the top will talk about the intangibles, the willingness to follow all orders no matter how bizarre, the blind loyalty to either the company or the face of the company. 

There is also an old joke about the head of the company talking to an upcoming executive regarding promotion possibilities.  "We need a man of vision, a man of action, a man capable of surreptitiously disposing of 2,000 barrels of alleged toxic waste."  

In other words loyalty first, second and third with knowledge and experience coming in a strong fourth and fifth. That is the route to the top in both private industry and in government. 

Our local legal system has impressed me twice within the last few days. Could it be an advanced right wing conspiracy solely for he purpose of undermining my opinions and positions? Not likely in this dimension or on this particular planet. I have recently spoken here about the corruption within our local Justice System with a focus on that idiot Justice Craig Parry versus any idiot who is a doctor and their name ryhmes with Cola . Notice just like the K-W Record who now have unnamed reporters (i.e. "Record Staff") writing about this case since the obviously guilty or innocent accused (you choose) was recently acquitted of all criminal charges thus opening the door to civil lawsuits for Libel against any folks who might have prejudged his guilt and  directly or indirectly said so. Well I too am covering my (m)ass by now referring to him as Cola not @*ola. 

Back to my point. I puke at that "decision" by Justice Parry and I applaud the homeless people at the tent encampment at Weber and Victoria St. and Judge Gibson who has given them literally a small, tiny place to hang their hats. Obviously a community of this size can and should do better for our homeless who through layoffs, firings, mental health issues, drug addictions, ridiculous housing costs and so much more are trying to live without even the bare minimum of a roof overhead to keep off the rain and snow.  It behooves me to again say that corruption may be the norm but there are still many within the system who try and who care. 

P.S. The other recent positive impression I've received from the Justice System is their darn quick announcement that they are appealing the Dr. Sloka case to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

AN IMPROVED APPEALS COMMITTEE-HOO BOY MAYOR SALONEN & THE REGION REALLY DON'T RESPECT WILMOT CITIZENS

 

Well this time I have to disagree with Record reporter Luisa D'Amato. She feels that Waterloo Region are stepping up by rearranging their water interference Appeals Committee to at a minimum give the appearance of fairness and transparency. Well yes likely the Region are willing to go that far: i.e. give the appearance of fairness and transparency. I'd almost be willing to bet my last dollar that Mayor Salonen and her regional colleagues are laughing their heads off right now. They have just bought more time and lots more water from Wilmot all for the price of ...a promise. Has the Region ever reneged on a promise, verbal or written, to Wilmot before? Not only have they but just last month they voted to rescind the 1980 agreement limiting water taking from Wilmot AFTER having been taking that water surreptitiously for the last nine years. And guess what: Do you think Wilmot council are so stupid that they didn't know that their water was being pumped steadily from beneath their feet by the Region? Of course they did but politics is all about getting your way while lying to the majority of citizens and bribing those in the know to stay on side with you.

Good will? Good faith? Give me a break. Just look at the past water interference appeals committee.  It was unilaterally appointed by regional council. Complainants had a grossly inadequate maximum $4,000 ceiling on a claim for a new (deeper) well AND they had to sign a release of future claims against the Region if their wells ran dry again.  Furthermore all aspects of the appeal and investigation were handled by regional staff. As Samantha Lernout of Citizens for Safe Ground Water stated that was not an impartial process it was a structural conflict of interest. And guess what? IT WAS DONE SO INTENTIONALLY by professional liars and manipulators called politicians.  

HOW MANY MORE JUSTICE CRAIG PARRY'S ARE THERE?

 

Is he the last one left or are most of our judges as stupid as he is? Other than taking the word of self-serving, well paid sycophants is there some fool proof way to judge our judges? Maybe put them on trial for a change and see how they like it.

We now have two candidates running for mayor in Woolwich Township. At fist blush I believe that either one of them will be an improvement over whom we've had for the last twelve years although that bar is set quite low. It is also possible that as life is rarely all black or all white (no racial slurs/undertones intended here) that Ms. Shantz may actually have some attributes and behaviours that have actually been in the public interest. Time usually tells.

Here is another thought concerning Justice Craig Parry. Maybe he's not an out of touch, old phart, sexist, self-serving member of the court. His attitudes towards 49 women (48 complainants, 1 Neurologist) might not be one hundred years or more out of date as it certainly appears. What if he simply is stupid, thoughtless and lazy? Just as bad what if he's senile or actually suffering from past mini strokes or some other brain injury? As a senior myself I do not wish that upon anyone but unfortunately it does happen and maybe Judges' vaunted independence is what is keeping him behind the bench ruining people's lives. Equally bad is there any possibility that he has been blackmailed or extorted somehow? Seriously I think a formal investigation to ascertain whether or not he's been a victim of criminal activity or pressure is called for. Again I would hope not but his behaviour appears bizarre.

Further issues abound. Anyone remember Tumblur Ridge in British Columbia? Anyone remember the weird circumstances surrounding the shooter's home life and diagnosed mental health struggles? She/he did not have a valid firearms license yet clearly had access to firearms as the authorities had returned them to the home and presumably to the registered owner. The shooter killed themselves afterwards which is a common occurrence in mass shootings. Right now our federal government continue to sell the myth that registered and licensed firearms owners are a threat to Canadian citizens. Could it be that the bigger threat is the government's own failures and refusal to enforce their own safety and firearms laws  especially those dealing with violent criminals and or mentally unstable individuals both of which must not have access to firearms ? 

OUR LOCAL (Waterloo Region) JUSTICE SYSTEM IS CORRUPT

 

This by definition could be merely  "riddled with errors "which in and of itself frankly is disgusting.  A little passing shot to our previous long term Regional Chair, Ken Seiling. This has occurred on your watch, you pissant. Got that out of my system albeit while I know that the Region of Waterloo for example have major responsibilities with local policing (WRPS) and all their failures towards their female officers a lot of that blame should lie with female regional councillors who've kept their heads down and let their gender counterparts in uniform get treated shabbily. Another passing shot is to our (thank God) departing and currently lame duck Woolwich mayor Sandy Shantz who's been a regional councillor for the last twelve years and probably felt that her political career would not be advanced by supporting and assisting female police officers. Oh and by the way while I've never made a big deal out of it but that same *#%*$ was my Trustee back in 1996 and she didn't lift a finger to help this parent constituent or others when the WRDSB  was protecting bad teachers such as Ron Archer (convicted pedophile).

I do not know all the connections between our Justice System and regional government. I do know that the Region have responsibilities in regards to providing facilities and infrastructure for our various courts. Furthermore I believe that certain prosecuters may be federal  prosecuters and others provincial prosecuters. Whether they are actually paid by the feds or the province versus the Region I am not certain. I do know for a fact that judges are appointed by goddamn politicians and that alone should scare most honest citizens. Nothing like stacking the deck in favour of the already entitled .

Today's K-W Record advises us that the Crown are filing an appeal in the Dr. Sloka case.  Corrupt or not the Crown and the entire system know when a stupid Judge has gone way too far. It's called putting the administration of justice in disrepute which is exactly what Justice Craig Parry has done when he called out 48 female, adult witnesses plus one expert witness for the prosecution, a practicing and respected Neurologist. By the way that Neurologist just happened to be female. The Judge described her and all 48 witnesses as unreliable, some dishonest and all mistaken in their testimony. But that's O.K. because he found the accused, Dr. Jeffrey Sloka credible. 

I too have experience with a biased, idiot Judge (Robert Reilly) unilaterally throwing out multiple witnesses' testimony in order to find me liable in a civil case. Based upon his behaviour the same Judge may have conspired with the Plaintiff's lawyer to try and manipulate my wife onto the stand in order to give testimony that he could twist against her and I. He and the Plaintiff's lawyer also used subterfuge to deny me a trial by my peers i.e a jury trial that I wanted and deserved.  

Who should have reined in both these Judges decades ago? Are these cases a one off whereby a normally rational, sane and honest Judge has simply been broken for one case each, alone? It seems very unlikely. Why does the Justice system not correct gross injustices by their own judges? What the hell has happened to common sense? News flash Justice system.  There are lots of honest, educated people out there who know when liars and filth are hiding behind walls that they've helped put up. How dare you judge citizens when you yourselves won't even clean house of dishonest people within your ranks.     

POLITICIANS & CORPORATIONS ARE SUCH INCREDIBLE LIARS

 

So where did that headline above come from? Generally speaking it's based upon close observation of the buggars over the last fourty plus years. Specifically speaking it's based upon the recent behaviour of the Region of Waterloo regarding how they've managed our water and secondly how they've behaved towards Wilmot Township residents. Regarding corporations that is also based upon past personal experiences as well as recent revelations as to how Uniroyal Chemical treated CEAC (Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee) back in the 1980s. There is a newspaper article (K-W Record) dated February 8, 1991 titled "Key data withheld, group learns". It turns out that while Uniroyal were telling CEAC how transparent they were, they were lobbying the Ministry of Environment behind the scenes to reduce discussions with any and all citizens They also pilloried CEAC in the early 1990s for advising against pumping on-site Municipal Aquifer wells they had installed.  Of course at least part of the reason for CEAC's advice was based upon inaccurate or missing data that Uniroyal failed to provide them. Last point is this. Without being intentionally a smart as* I can confidently suggest that the bald and bold statement in the headline above does not refer to 100% of either politicians or corporations albeit in my opinion it is a very high percentage and for now we'll leave it at that.

Today's Record article written by Luisa D'Amato is titled "Wells in rural Wilmot are running dry. The Region should fix that. It's the least they can do."  I agree whole heartedly with that. I'm also going to add to Luisa's point that to date the Region have both lied and reneged on their promises to Wilmot Township regarding taking their water for the big cities. They also need to apologize and ask forgiveness for that as well as paying 100% of the costs for rural well owners to obtain access to the now much further from the surface aquifers in parts of Wilmot Township. 

Finally maybe a backup plan is needed. Give the Region a hard date by which the money for deeper wells will be provided. After that quoting Uniroyal Chemical years ago in Elmira, the gloves may need to come off.   

.  

REGION'S DESPERATION BECOMING MORE AND MORE CLEAR

 Well I knew that the Region of Waterloo had been eyeing previously shut down water wells due to industrial contamination which was absolutely not confidence inspiring but here they go now looking at wells in Baden long closed due to Nitrate contamination. Nitrates result from over fertilizing farm fields with manure, sewage, hog, cattlle and sometimes even Sewage Treatment Plant solids.  Sounds yummy doesn't it? Yours truly has actually seen fields after dumping...oops I mean after fertilizing farm fields with biosolids including needles and other stuff that shouldn't have gone down the toilet in the first place but does anyways. Nitrates are basically nitrogen combined with some oxygen.

Today's K-W Record carries the following story titled "The search for clean water". Who exactly are they kidding? Possibly the clean water is long gone and the best we can do now is simply to a) find water that can be treated somehow and b) treated fully at a price that won't bankrupt us. We are advised that the Region are hoping to drill deeper through the contaminated aquifers to find a less contaminated aquifer. This action will of course increase our water costs as deeper wells mean bigger pumps and greater electrical costs to bring the water to the surface. Other issues pointed out in the article have to do with well interference in the Baden and New Hamburg areas as both farms and residents homes there are already dealing with lower water levels. 

Essentially what has happened is that citizens and residents have been subsidizing polluting industries throughout Waterloo Region for decades as they have contaminated our waters with solvents, pesticides and other industrial chemicals. We have also known that manure, nitrates and nitrites have been getting into our surface waters for decades from farm and feedlot runoff. This of course affects our drinking water as we attempt to treat Grand River water for human consumption. For decades even wells near our three biggest cities have been showing Nitrates and Nitrites at alarming levels. Further to the mix is Sodium from salt (NaCl-sodium chloride) put on our roads and sidewalks.

All in all the Region of Waterloo politicians have been playing fast and loose with our water and not keeping citizens informed as to the severity of the problems. We are now beginning to see the big picture and it's not a pretty picture.

LIGHTNING & HOCKEY BIAS STRIKE ELMIRA AGAIN!

 

Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time with this one .An obviously wealthy family (check out the mansion, the number of acres owned and the size /cost of the friggin fully equipped hockey rink and infrastructure) made the decision not to follow fairly normal municipal rules and regulations regarding constructing buildings, hooking up to municipal services etc. Now at first blush their excuse was well it's only a hockey rink for kids and hockey is a good thing here in Canada, right. Hmm well maybe O.K.   Although this is no outdoor rink, watered with a hose and used plywood for the ten inch high boards.  This is a full indoor rink and building including a commercial ice /refrigeration system, a commercial ice cleaner (zamboni??), washrooms etc. etc. A friend's first question to me was : How did this family get a professional contractor (plumber, electrician, carpenter, concrete specialists etc. ) to build all this without a Building Permit much less other paperwork to prove this is a documented, legitimate, built to code safe building. 

Now my friend can be enthusiastic at times and he considered that maybe somebody, somewhere got paid off. The more I think about it the more I wonder too. Is our municipal system so lax that a major building built between the mansion and the roadway can be expected to be ignored? This is Woolwich Township not Mississauga or Toronto where I expect buildings come and go all the time without proper paperwork.  O.K. somebody caught this "nice" undocumented building to be used for kids healthy entertainment. The last time Woolwich got an extra rink it was at the proposed new Rec Centre and cost us an experienced councillor (Pat McLean-no loss really) in exchange for a novice (Sandy Shantz) who went on to three terms as mayor totally ensuring that Uniroyal Chemical and successors got away with paying the absolute minimum to "clean up" their chemical nightmare including  Dioxins, DDT, NDMA etc.  

So is this as bad a decision as my gut is telling me or am I still leery of ice rinks after the last one  Woolwich voters wanted and what it really cost us all?

The story was in the K-W Record this week yet I did not see it in the Observer this week. Odd!

GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCE DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL CORRUPTION

 

Unfortunately though it does make many citizens believe that government corruption is a normal thing. Is our provincial Conservative government inherently corrupt? I'm going to be nice today and suggest that ideological stupidity combined with zero sense of history may be driving Doug Ford's most recent attempts to make his corporate sponsers greener. By greener I am not suggesting that Ford's government love the environment nearly as much as they love money and Ford by trying to make them "greener" is trying to make them wealthier at the public's expense. There is absolutely no attempt here to actually make, develop or improve upon a product. It's simply yet one more way to legally transfer wealth to those already expert at sucking at the government's udders. 

The Opinion Page in today's Record has an excellent article by Joel Bakan and Jim Standford titled "Was nothing learned from Walkerton" The straightforward answer is indeed NOTHING ! Below that article is one by Susan Koswan both reiterating recent posts of mine here but also adding information concerning pollutants in our Grand River. She also comments on how the Region of Waterloo were mishandling our water supply back in 1992 and none other than Dr. John Cherry so advised them of that fact.

We as citizens have been far too complacent and we've already paid too high of a price for that complacency. For the love of all that's holy why doesn't Doug Ford get his Conservative back up about the federal government's ongoing attacks against honest citizens including threats of criminalization? Other provinces have done so and while Doug's environmental failures will cost him votes he could recoup many if he took similar steps to those of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Newfoundland who will not allow our federal government to steal lawful property and criminalize honest citizens who have followed firearms laws and rules for decades. 

REGION OF WATERLOO TWISTS IN THE WIND WHILE TAXPAYERS CONTINUE TO FOOT THE BILLS ($15 MILLION MOST RECENT)

 

The math may be a little off or that is just typical Record reporters who either can't do math or simply described the increased capacity from portable trailers unclearly. Apparently one trailer will start filtering water at 25 litres per second and then be scaled to 50 l/sec by the end of 2026. If all goes well than three more filtration trailers will be added for a total increased capacity of 300 l/sec. Readers who can do the math can see the potential contradiction. This story is in today's K-W Record titled "We have a lot of eggs in the basket".

Just to keep the pressure on everybody we are also advised that the four filtration containers weighing 100,000 pounds each will be sitting on top of critical water and service lines located seven metres below ground. By my math that is 400,000 pounds of containers although we are not told if that is dry weight or wet weight. It could make a huge difference just as the mixing of measurement systems (British & Metric)  for weight (pounds) and distance (metres) might also signify somebody who is less than proficient in one or both measuring systems. I just state this in order to tee up the Region down the road for yet another excuse if things don't work out.

Permanent repairs to the Mannheim Treatment Plant are scheduled to be completed by 2031. I have yet to see any explanation as to why that plant was allowed to get so degraded in the first place. Allegedly after June 3, 2026 there may be some partial development allowed to move forward based upon a risk assessment that has been done. If it's anything like the piece of garbage Risk Assessments (two of them) done in Elmira for both the former Uniroyal plant and for the Canagagigue Creek then developers and house builders can rest easy as the Risk Assessment will merely justify what the people paying for it want. 

Further work by the Region includes completing renovations to wells and searching for other sources. If only all the wells that have been shut down either short term, long term or permanently could be safely brought back into service. They can't because there were serious and inescapable reasons for their shutdowns in the first place. Perhaps again greater thought and consideration to real groundwater remediation should have occurred long ago in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Elmira.

IT SURE SEEMS TO ME THAT MR. MACKIN (LANXESS) IS FULL OF BULL RIGHT ALONG WITH THE ONT. MIN. OF ENVIRONMENT

 

Michael Mackin is/was a spokesperson for Lanxess Canada here in Elmira. I and a few others take umbrage with either blatant lies or even just disingenuous statements intentionally made to mislead the public. Sorry but that's the way I'm built and living here in Elmira unfortunately it happens far too often from various authorities (MECP), politicians and of course polluters and their consultants. In this case I'm referring to an article in the Woolwich Observer dated May 18, 2023 and written by Leah Gerber titled "  Chlorobenzene spike latest mystery for environmental watchdog". 

According to sources there has been recent increases in chlorobenzene concentrations found in observation well CH-75B. Now Lanxess would have us believe that there are other sources of chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers which certainly is a realistic possibility based upon the number of local facilities using chlorobenzene and the sweetheart deal of Oct./Nov. 1991 between Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario Ministry of Environment. Basically at that time Uniroyal accepted 100% blame and responsibility in exchange for not proceeding at the Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) to eviscerate the Ministry of Environment's credibility and integrity. Also Uniroyal received some slippery wording allowing them to escape DNAPL cleanup based upon the Ministry's biased interpretations of future reports written by Uniroyal consultants and others. Also the 1991 deals have allowed Uniroyal and successors to so far escape all downstream cleanup of the Canagagigue Creek that has been contaminated initially with solvents etc. but remains to this day as a repository of DDT, dioxins and more from Uniroyal's behaviour.

I also believe that there is likely a second source of NDMA to the Elmira Aquifers which to date has not been admitted to by any of the guilty parties. The entire "investigation" was a joke by the MOE (later MECP) and that also would have been exposed at the EAB hearing if it had been allowed to continue. Currently we have admissions that both Nutrite and Varnicolor contributed chemicals to the Elmira Aquifers with Nutrite responsible for ammonia and Varnicolor for half a dozen chlorinated solvents. 

Meanwhile both Mr. Machin, Tiffany Svensson and others are all quite willing to blame some unknown chlorobenzene contributor versus determining who the culprit is. The MECP however are sticking to their 1991 story suggesting that it's all speculation and the chlorobenzene plume is contained within the larger NDMA plume and will be remediated eventually along with the NDMA. Likely candidates for further pollution blame would include the former Borg Textiles and former Varnicolor Chemical. Sanyo has always caught my eye based upon nearby observation well CH-38 and its' results over the decades. Nobody of course mentions the small cleanup at MotiveAir (First St.) years ago that most likely was a result of their next door neighbour Varnicolor Chemical. Other nearby companies are also potential candidates.

By the way the concentration increases at CH-75B are likely due to the shutting down of pumping well W4 that was controlling the chlorobenzene  DNAPL found in observation well OW57-32R. Everyone knows this and everyone lies about it. That off-site DNAPL was an embarrassment to all the guilty parties.

EXACTLY WHEN DID THE CORRUPTION START IN WOOLWICH?

 

Oh my but that's a tough one. Which corruption are we talking about? What kind of corruption are we talking about? Are we talking about brown paper bags filled with cash or "merely" corruption defined as "riddled with errors"? Are we talking government corruption as in the Ontario Ministry of Environment or rather as bilateral deals between Uniroyal Chemical and Ontario or Uniroyal Chemical and the Region of Waterloo or Uniroyal Chemical and Woolwich Township? How about lower key corruption whereby Uniroyal has an understanding with one or two local councillors to keep them in the loop ahead of time?

Finally how about local citizens with connections to Uniroyal Chemical in the old days. Did those cheerleaders change their tune as Uniroyal's complicity and negligence become more obvious over time? How about local citizens representing a larger group who are persuaded to change teams? APTE under Susan Rupert was a force to be reckoned with and it amazed me when I heard how accommodating a certain mayor and real estate agents were in assisting Ms. Rupert's move from Elmira to Waterloo to attend the University of Waterloo.  It's one thing to be happy when you are losing a harsh critic but did they know who her replacement was going to be?

Clearly there had been a certain amount of corruption at the municipal,  regional and provincial levels for decades in allowing Uniroyal Chemical free rein to pollute, destroy and degrade our air, soil, Creek (Canagagigue) and groundwater. There were pollution laws which simply weren't enforced. The Ontario Ministry of Environment viewed their job as squelching complaints, misrepresenting critics and defending corporations inalienable rights to make money off the backs of their hired labour, the environment and unfortunate local residents. The residents rights to clean air, water, soil and food were way down the list of priorities.   

With decades of corruption under their belts it really wasn't that difficult to manipulate both the public and the public's representatives, voted or otherwise. This is what democracy has become. The dishonest leading the disinterested . Those that do step up are either co-opted or squelched one way or the other. That is the huge advantage of governmental corruption. You are on the inside protecting the guilty who are also on the inside.

THE BIG STICK IS COMING: WRDSB FOR SURE IS IN TROUBLE BUT WHAT ABOUT WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP?

 

I know, I know we have lots of Conservatives locally who have always toed the provincial line. Heck we've got a number of Conservative M.P.s (federal) such as Connie Cody and Kelly Deritter and Matt Strauss. Apologies if I've lumped in a provincial Tory (Conservative ) here along with the federal ones but that just makes my point more that Doug Ford really shouldn't be gunning for anybody in Waterloo Region. Heck both Ken Seiling and Sandy Shantz are both Conservatives as well.

The Waterloo Region District School Board frankly are a bunch of idiots and whatever their political leanings have long been an embarrassment locally.  Whether it was the Caroline Burjowski fiasco in which the Chair made the initial errors only to be followed by the rest of the Board leaping in with both feet and treating her savagely; they actually got their comeuppance by the courts which just goes to prove that they at least are not corrupt all the time.  Or maybe it's been the treatment of their own trustees when one has dared not to follow the company/Board line on all things stupid. The Mike Ramsay affair makes a complete sham of the Board's commonsense and decency. Suspending publicly elected trustees based upon a few hurt feelings on the Board is jus so sad and pathetic.

Yes I can certainly see our premier being fed up with the WRDSB's nonsense and taking hard action. But what about a municipality (Woolwich) that has let one of the most heavily contaminated chemical sites in the country continue to fester? Instead of redoubling their efforts years ago they are merely preparing excuses and rewriting the narrative. What about a Region (Waterloo) that  seems hell bent on infuriating its' citizens through secret land grabs (Wilmot) as well as a local Elmira Water Crisis that is now a Region wide Water Crisis? Plus don't forget speed cameras removed by Doug Ford only to be replaced by surveillance cameras.  You know I'm not a Conservative voter but I could get behind the province saying enough is enough here in Waterloo Region. Call it amalgamation, call it sending in a superviser but whatever it's time for a major shakeup. 

THE LAWYERS ARE COMING, THE LAWYERS ARE COMING!

 

Oh thank goodness for involved and keen citizens. Despite decades of reading technical hydrogeological reports and understanding them and then providing informed advice which was generally ignored if it cost 25 cents more than another option; this time I will be a tad frivolous in my advice. In today's K-W Record Luisa D'Amato warns us that lawsuits are on the way. Her article on page A3 is titled "Region is running out of time to avoid legal action on water supply".  My suggestion is this: Embrace the judicial system sticking their noses in, their supercilious attitudes, user unfriendly processes and procedures all combined with occasional ignorant judges and go for it. Sort of. Here's what you have to do. It's called judge shopping and the fact that it has a name indicates that it is a thing. 

Pick Justice Craig Parry to be the sole jurist. No jury involved to dilute the pool of common sense that he has recently displayed. Based upon his obvious displeasure with the public as represented by 48 adult women versus one male doctor (we'll call him Dr. "hands") a lawsuit made up of mostly male plaintiffs aimed against a mixed bunch of regional councilors should be a slam dunk in favour of the developers and house builders at the expense of the public interest. This sounds to me right up this Judge's alley don't you think?

Now on the other hand if you were to pick judge Robert Reilly instead you could likely tailer the legal decision differently. If as I was told, after the fact, he favours females over males then by putting all the female regional councillors in the front row to emphasize regional council's femininity versus the masculinity of rough/tough home builders and construction guys; then the decision would be a slam dunk in favour of the public interest (politicians) over wealthy, influential, monied interests.

There is yet another legal term involved. It's called "home cooking". Basically courts who rely somewhat on the good will of the people they terrorize.... oops I mean tenderize, prefer to make decisions that the public can get behind no matter their legal merits. Hence each party needs to do a small, subtle con job on the judge alone (possibly favoured by Reilly & Parry?) which is much easier than winning over a jury of citizens based upon evidence. The party that the Judge feels represents more people should generally win court decisions to avoid controversy and worse such as bringing the administration of justice into disrepute. 

So who really is in charge in Waterloo Region? Is it the behind the scenes movers and shakers or is it the pack of dummies that get elected every four years? Those politicians may get elected on the lies they tell the public during the election but it's the truth they tell the movers and shakers privately beforehand that gets them money and organization to run in the elections. 

Exactly how rigged is the system? Can you believe the coincidence that speed cameras are being torn down in Waterloo Region literally at the same time as surveillance cameras are being put up? Who masterminded that Orwellian nonsense without public input? Waterloo Region still refuses to divulge what should be public knowledge regarding the 770 acre land grab in Wilmot Township. They also still haven't come clean as to the quantity of contaminated groundwater combined with incredibly dirty Grand River surface water requiring massively expensive treatment. 

My personal view is that we are watching a bruhaha between the greedy and the incompetent. There will ne no winners but I can guarantee you who the losers will be! We can't vote out the movers and shakers but come this October we can vote out every single regional councillor plus incumbent mayors on regional council.

   

I PROPOSE AN ANNUAL AWARD NAMED THE ROBERT REILLY DULY MEMORABLE BASTION OF ARTICULATE SOUL SEEKERS - 1ST RECIPIENT JUSTICE CRAIG PARRY

 

Justice Parry through his recent, courageous and forward seeking decision to put 48 female whiners and complainers in their place can only be given the due he deserves. With full knowledge that all the lefties, some righties, men and women of all shapes and colours would find fault with his independent, long thought out and incredibly humourous exaggerations that he used in order to calm the ever complaining masses. This award has of course been named after another giant of jurisprudence, Robert Reilly, who pioneered the advanced technique of dismissing witness credibility based upon zero evidence presented on the matter. Now of course Robert Reilly was a mere piker compared to Justice Craig Parry but innovators sometimes have to begin small. Both gentlemen have surmounted the tightly constrained and impeded bounds of logic, fact and reason with their obviously male talent of foresight, psychic vision and mind reading capabilities far in advance of their peers, their critics, and humanity in general.

This award known as the RR DUMBASS could easily have been mistaken for the name of their joint pleasure yacht the SS DUMBASS but for the foresight of  Mr. Reilly's parents' naming abilities. It is rumoured that they too were giants in their fields as well. Clearly the apple does not fall far from the tree and Mr. Reilly's legal exploits are as equally balanced as his bicycle riding we are advised. Further praise and public recognition may be forthcoming for both gentlemen at the planned festivities outside the Elmira Waste Water Treatment Plant this Saturday at 11 am.  All are welcome although sore losers and complainers will be met with Waterloo Region's finest batons and pepper spray.

CREDIT GOES TO SANDY SHANTZ FOR ANNOUNCING HER STEPPING DOWN EARLY

 

Instead of delaying her announcement that she wasn't running and hence possibly being viewed as a "lame duck" mayor by both her Woolwich and regional colleagues; she has announced already that she is not running for Woolwich Mayor again this October. Hallelujah albeit the damage is done and the last ditch chance to reverse Woolwich Township's disgraceful "water crisis" legacy is now well past. The Township rolled over early and joined the Uniroyal Chemical fellow travellors' cheerleading group. After the new CPAC (2011-2015) changed the channel and set the new direction however it was Sandy Shantz who re-embraced Uniroyal/Chemtura, kicked out CPAC and went back to the status quo of much talk and little action or cleanup.  

Uniroyal and their corporate successors have made a laughing stock of local democracy and of the provincial Ministry of Environment (MECP). Clearly our provincial environmental laws are absolutely no match for multi billion dollar, multi national corporations with large legal budgets and tiny ethics and decency. No effort was ever spared by the polluters to minimize their cleanup costs and enhance their soiled reputations. And our local councils aided and abetted that over decades to their everlasting shame. 

To date I believe that councillor Eric Schwindt has thrown his hat into the ring.  I guess I'm not terribly surprised nor alarmed although I will admit my knowledge of him is limited. What I have seen over the last four years has been positive in a number of areas . I do not know if there will be other contenders or not although it seems likely. You know I can live with a mayor with a different background than myself but dear God at least let them have an open mind regarding our public water supply and they must put the public interest first in all matters. They must not be beholden to developers, builders, industrialists or our local big shots or for that matter any other self-serving groups especially including regional and provincial governments.   

GROWTH AT ANY COST MANTRA

 

All around the world economic growth continues to be the alleged panacea of all our ills. Which is complete nonsense even on the face of it. Yes it would be nice to have enough food, water, shelter, health care etc. for everyone on the planet but it is an impossible task getting worse everyday. Why is that you ask? Well there are more and more people on the same size planet everyday. There is however not an automatic and corresponding increase in those life sustaining items everyday as the population continues to grow.  Combined with that is the fact that economic growth at least partially depends on population growth. In other words it's a case of having an ever expanding market for your goods be they foodstuffs, clothing or automobiles.

Population growth leads to some awful environmental problems from basic dumping and overflows from sewage treatment plants into our lakes and rivers as well as forest removal in order to grow more food for more people. Then of course we have climate change which certainly is attributed to more petroleum uses whether for heating our homes or running cars and trucks delivering more products to more people. Climate change including rising ocean levels as ice caps melt is causing havoc with flooding of coastal towns and cities. Greater heat worldwide is causing massive increases in both the numbers and magnitude of violent weather events resulting in more hurricanes and tornados destroying property and lives. Both droughts and floods are increasing in numbers and both affect food production which is already under stress.

Water shortages used to be an issue in third world countries. Now countries are looking for water sources outside their own borders. Water, whether groundwater or surface water, is in greater demand even as our industries continue to ignore pollution laws with little or no public recourse against them. Here in Elmira the now responsible chemical company are bragging about their fine "cleanup" work even as the Ministry of Environment rewrites the Control Order (1991) that was supposed to restore our local aquifers destroyed by Uniroyal Chemical. The deadline is 2028 and it won't happen although desperation may cause attempts to reopen parts of the aquifer to drinking water pumping while pretending to isolate other more contaminated parts. 

This is all our futures unless growth is more seriously limited and supervised. 

ABUNDANT, ACCURATE & HONEST ADVICE WAS GIVEN TO UNIROYAL & SUCCESSORS : IT WAS ALL IGNORED AND DENIGRATED

 

Who gave them advice exactly? CEAC gave them good advice for years. The Region of Waterloo as well until they walked away unhappy with being ignored. Various bodies from the initially independent albeit stacked with Uniroyal supporters UPAC followed by CPAC (Crompton/Chemtura) followed by RAC/TAG and then TRAC all gave some good advice but other than the 2011-early 2015 CPAC none of the others ever stood up to the company and the Ministry (MOE/MECP) and demanded honest discussions, action and good faith from them. Chemtura were just like their predecessors incapable of doing any of that. 

Woolwich Township have always been far too sympathetic and deferential to the chemical company with the Oct. 2010 to Oct. 2014 council of Todd Cowan at least trying to support greater honesty at CPAC although even then Todd Cowan personally was a problem. Eventually as we all know he self destructed albeit with a little help. The GRCA can best be described as a joke which speaks volumes as to my lack of response to Doug Ford's clipping their wings. 

The advice given was based upon various reports and experts advising what needed to be done including the MOE from time to time, in between polishing Uniroyal's apple and kissing their feet . Advice included Source Removal including DNAPLS, pumping to both the on-site and off-site Target Rates determined by their own consultants,  removing dioxins, DDT and more in the downstream Canagagigue Creek and so much more. Off-site there were poorly managed DNAPLS (chlorobenzene) whether from Uniroyal or a now decades later admission to a second (unnamed) industrial source. There was also advice given to clean up their air emissions which literally took them years to get around to meanwhile harming local residents' (adults & children) health. 

The company's and the Ministry's (MOE) early on sweetheart deal (Oct. & Nov. 1991) set the tone for the company's continuing to be in charge of the "cleanup" from start to finish. The "cleanup" unsurprisingly has failed just like the company and Ministry have failed Elmira, Woolwich and downstream residents. 

HOW MANY WOOLWICH COUNCILLORS WANT TO HANG AROUND FOR THE WATER BLAME ?

 

Well the chief architect of the Elmira cleanup failure over the last twelve years by the time the October elections roll around is running for the hills. She also bears some responsibility at the regional level for the water crisis throughout all of Waterloo Region. How many other regional as well as local councillors do you think will join the exodus? I would expect the mayors with more than one term as mayors and regional councillors might be thinking that this is a good time to hit the road. Is that only Barry Vrbanovic or is one of the other big city mayors a repeat culprit?

I expect that up here in Dogpatch (Woolwich) that there might be some small exodus of councillors although actually other than Bonnie Bryant, the others are all first term councillors. Hard to fault them horribly from one term's experience in which a quadruple term Sandy Shantz was leading the pack. She also spent a term as a councillor before her three terms as mayor. A small peccadillo derailed her for one term between her term as councillor and her three terms as mayor.  

I have spent years trying to figure out if she basically is a naive fool, easily swayed and manipulated by the likes of Dave Brenneman, Mark Bauman, Chemtura/Lanxess and other local big shot companies and individuals. Or has she with full knowledge ploughed ahead wrecking havoc on our environment and health by prioritizing growth and business at all costs?  Uniroyal and successors is not the only industrial dump  in Woolwich Township. Breslube, prior to Safety-Kleen, damaged our environments's air and water for extensive distances throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s. Safety-Kleen were always welcomed with open arms and glad handing by earlier Woolwich mayors including Bill Strauss who personally owned multiple contaminated sites related to the fuel industry. 

Perhaps we the citizens deserve both the environment and the mayors that we've had. Sebastian (TRAC) has very lately sent an excellent treatise on to some local environmentalists and unfortunately to a couple of wanna bees that may bite him. That could be unfortunate or it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise as he spends less time with those he refers to as deferential.  

MAYOR SHANTZ"S LEGACY IS LIKELY PROBLEMATIC

 

I suggest that her legacy is problematic mostly based upon her efforts regarding Elmira's water situation. Yes I am aware that the Woolwich Observer and others have been warning taxpayers here in Woolwich Township for decades about profligate municipal spending. Those folks have also likely suggested either empire building or at least unnecessary municipal hires which further add to the Township's financial burden when wages, benefits and long term cost of living increases are all included.

It is also possible that there are other issues such as local development both in Breslau and Elmira that may have offended many citizens. I do not however pretend to be either an expert on the intricacies of development nor on waste water infrastructure. I do have considerable knowledge however on water supply including both municipal, regional and even individual wells on private residences.

For myself there is one other major area of recent dispute that Mayor Shantz possibly cleverly avoided at all costs and that is the Region of Waterloo's mishandling of  Wilmot's water supplies. Keep in mind that Mayor Shantz has also been a regional councillor for the past twelve years and should have stepped up and provided some leadership within regional council. Absolutely none was heard or reported upon at regional council meetings that multiple media have been attending vigorously for at least the last six months. 

I have a colleague here in Elmira who has resoundingly been repeating the following mantra namely that Ms. Shantz's actions and decisions over the last eleven years have guaranteed the now universally accepted failure to clean up the Elmira Aquifers by 2028. While the "cleanup" has been irregular, inconsistent and inadequate for decades, the last chance to turn things around was in 2015 after the previous year's election which made Ms. Shantz mayor. Unfortunately, likely with bad advice (Brenneman & Bauman), she did absolutely everything wrong to restore the public's aquifers and everything right to minimize the polluter's environmental expenses and to polish Chemtura's and Lanxess's public images. 

She has announced that she won't run in this fall's election. While that is a long overdue blessing I am not sure that local powers that be will not have multiple replacements waiting in the wings to solidify their influence generally at the expense of the public interest.  

IS JUSTICE CRAIG PARRY ANOTHER JUSTICE ROBERT REILLY ONLY 2.0 ?

 

I have noticed both the similarities and the differences. Both judges are local (Waterloo Region). Both are arrogant know it alls beyond belief. Both are stupid enough to think that either everybody in the world will believe their horseshit or that those who don't, do not matter.

The Dishonourable Robert Reilly dismissed the testimony of seven parent witnesses who supported me and my wife at trial. He blamed me alone for allegedly holding them under my spell and inducing them to falsely testify against the Plaintiff who sued both myself and my wife. Justice Craig Parry on the other hand dismissed the evidence of 48 female witnesses against Dr. Jeffrey Sloka. Justice Parry claimed that ALL the witnesses were unreliable however he blamed Waterloo Regional Police, the media and the prosecuters for having misled them in a variety of ways. I guess if you don't like multiple witnesses testimony than you need to scapegoat somebody.

Oh and my case was a civil case not a criminal case plus the co-accused (my wife) was found NOT liable as there was absolutely not one single shred of evidence presented against her.  When I refused to put her on the stand in my defence both the Plaintiff's lawyer and the asshat Judge went ballistic.  My in hindsight conclusion was that they were hoping to get her to say something on the stand to implicate herself because they had absolutely no evidence against her.

I had hoped and thought that Justice Reilly was the only local piece of crap Judge we had. I was mistaken apparently. I wonder if anybody at trial asked the police whether or not there were any male patients of Dr. Sloka (neurologist-brain, nerves etc.) who had complained about inappropriate and or intimate body examinations.  If not that kind of looks bad on the doctor don't you think? I also wonder how Justice Parry satisfied himself that Dr. Sloka's intimate bodily examinations were appropriate?  The Crown Prosecuter's witness a Neurologist said it was not appropriate. No other independent and certified witness said otherwise yet our Justice Craig Parry seems confident enough to substitute his judgement for that of a well known, certified professional Neurologist PLUS the opinions of the College of Physicians and Surgeons who permanently stripped Dr. Sloka of his medical license for his behaviour with female patients.

If if looks like a duck ....if it waddles like a duck ....and if it quacks like a duck ...it probably is a duck or in this case he probably is two letters past d....  and rhymes with duck.  

JUSTICE CRAIG PARRY JOINS THE ELITE JUDICIAL GIANTS WHO ACQUITTED JIAN GOMESHI, FIVE HOCKEY CANADA PLAYERS & OUR OWN ROBERT REILLY

 

Now I must add something critical here. Surely to goodness based upon the judicial precedents set over decades (centuries?) combined with the clearly vastly superior mental, emotional and psychological attributes of  male judges, there is no need to continue the trial of the unfortunate Frank Stronach who is being dragged through the mud by a plethora of obviously jealous and petty women. These women recall had dinner with him in a public restaurant and then despite his advanced age compared to themselves, they allowed him to convince them to go and look at his etchings... oops I mean his view of the Toronto (Hamilton?) harbour from his condominium.  There the inevitable happened and their disappointment afterwards was manifested via rape allegations by many of them.  Surely the Judge currently involved can see that (if he is male as the organ involved self centres and points due south) hence grounding and stabilizing male opinions and attitudes. This is very important in matters of jurisprudence and wise male judges while denying reliance on their little head versus their big head nevertheless are far more capable of understanding the intricacies of biology versus neurology. 

Speaking of neurology I can hear the critics now hammering Justice Craig Parry simply because he was experienced enough to be able to overcome the aura of competence and intellect professed by many doctors, particularly female ones. The neurologist who testified against Dr. Jeffrey Sloka was female and clearly the good Judge with his decades of legal experience was eminently qualified in all spheres of human knowledge to overrule her medical training, knowledge and certifications as an accredited neurologist in order to discredit her competence on the stand. We are indeed blessed to have such courage and steadfastness in the face of  so many undeveloped brains and emotions compared to those of our various judicial giants. Justice Parry I expect that some day statues will be raised to yourself and your male peers on the stand.  

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF BOTH AT TRAC AND WITH WILMOT TWN. & WATERLOO REGION

 

I TOLD THE LIARS & DECEIVERS AT CPAC BACK AROUND 2005 THAT THERE WAS  CHLOROBENZENE DNAPL OFFSITE BY THE HOWARD AVE. WATER TOWER - They denied it then, now they admit to the chlorobenzene and "residual" DNAPL.

WATERLOO REGION PLAYED DECEPTIVE GAMES WITH WILMOT'S WATER BACK IN THE 1970s. They initially denied it, then admitted it. They are doing the same thing all over again.

Parents stop lecturing your children to stop lying. Clearly we are always going to need politicians and clearly they are always going to lie to us. If your child likes to lie then nurture that skill and hope for the day when they lie to further your interests versus the public interest.

Today's K-W Record has the front page story and headline titled "Former Wilmot mayor watches history repeat itself". Clearly back in the early 1970s the City of Kitchener had absolutely no problem robbing Peter of water to quench Paul's thirst. This continued until Wilmot stood on their hind legs and gave the Kitchener bullies whatfor. Agreements were made including that the Region would pay any Wilmot residents' costs required to drill deeper wells due to Kitchener drawing them down. 

Similar bullies, polluters, politicians and long compromised regulators (MOE/MECP) have infested UPAC, CPAC initially, RAC, TAG and TRAC, all alleged public consultation bodies.  I presented very strong evidence to the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee prior to 2007 that actually suggested that what Uniroyal's consultants had found was likely DNAPL (Dense Non Aqueous Phase Liquid) made up of chlorobenzene and other contaminants.  As with pretty much all conclusions regarding contamination and cleanup it was based upon hard evidence actually provided by Uniroyal and corporate successors own, client driven consultants. In this case it was published in their monthly Progress Reports and examined a surprising discovery found one hundred feet below ground surface in well OW57-32R very near the Howard St. water tower. It has been vehemently denied for decades despite pumping well W4 being installed right beside it in order to speed up the dissolution of the DNAPL as well as keep the dissolved plume from spreading further under Elmira. Shortly after pumping well W4 was shut down, perhaps a little prematurely, downstream pumping well W3(R) and nearby observation wells such as CH75 began exhibiting increases in chlorobenzene. Hardly any surprise at all under the circumstances. Then in 2017 or 2018 Dr. Neil Thompson dropped the first bomb by advising that there was a lot more chlorobenzene in the Elmira aquifers than anybody had expected. By 2025 Jesse Wrighte of Arcadis Inc. advised that there were other sources of chlorobenzene located near the former Borg Textiles and the former Varnicolor Chemical. Allan Deal of GHD on behalf of Lanxess, also less than a year earlier, had advised as per the Minutes of a September 2024 TRAC meeting that nearby residual DNAPL was now dissolved. OH MY GOD BUT THE LYING BAST*RDS JUST CAN"T TELL THE TRUTH EVEN WHEN IT'S BITING THEM IN THE *SS.  Residual DNAPL is the tail if you will of passing free phase DNAPL that is no longer continuous as in a "pool" of DNAPL.

This deceit, lying and manipulation of the truth has been the never ending story of the Elmira Water Crisis and our politicians not only have failed to call the polluter (Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura/Lanxess and regulator (MOE/MECP) on it but  have enabled them throughout the last 36 1/2 years.

 

VOICES FROM THE PAST: ESTHER THUR, KEN REGER & SUSAN RUPERT

 Obviously I can't include everybody. One obvious voice who is still going strong from his moving to Elmira in the mid to late 1990s is Dr. Henry Regier who was mentioned in last Saturday's Blog posting. Another name which I've seen recently in some old newspaper clippings is Dr. Murray Haight who was involved both with CEAC (Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee) as well as assisting the MOE with matters at Uniroyal Chemical I believe mostly in the 1990s although it could have been longer. 

Esther advised both citizens and the Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) in 1990 or 91 about conditions here in Elmira possibly for many decades prior to the start of the 1989 Elmira Water Crisis. She also advised that Uniroyal's fumigations in the old days were so severe that they even sent employees such as her husband Ed home from work (Roxton Furniture) for the day.

Ken Reger had worked for several years at Uniroyal Chemical and he too testified at the EAB as to what he saw both at work and in the Elmira area including wildlife suffering from the effects of Uniroyal's environmental negligence. This included muskrats, groundhogs, carp and others. He referenced the old municipal damp (M2) on the Uniroyal property which had both barrels and likely dioxins in it from the company. 

Susan Rupert, co-founder of APTE with Sandra Bray and Esther Thur, got right to the heart of the matter asking the EAB to expedite Uniroyal at least starting the process to remediate all the damage they had caused. She would be appalled to know today that not one shovelful of downstream contaminated sediments, creekbank soils or floodplain soils has been removed to date and in fact the company have played the cleanup game to the point of buying a Risk Assessment that had the brass and nerve to suggest that there are no unacceptable downstream risks. Likely it is true that the bought and paid for bureaucrats and other alleged "experts" who will never live or work along the downstream Creek feel no "unacceptable" risks to themselves or their families.    

DR. HENRY REGIER AGAIN ADVISES ELMIRA BE DESIGNATED AS AN "AREA OF CONCERN" WITH AN ACCOMPANYING REMEDIAL ACTION PLAN

 

Currently by request I have forwarded Henry's latest report titled "A Road Not Yet Taken with Elmira's Contaminants" dated April 23, 2026 to both the Waterloo Region Record and the Woolwich Observer. Here right now I am merely going to describe some of Dr. Regier's ideas and suggestions, not reproduce his exact report without his express permission. Sorry about that but upon request I can always go to him and ask if I can provide the report to whomever asks for it. It is only six paragraphs on one page but it has a world of value in it.

 Dr. Regier refers to politicians solving problems by the Wand method which stands for Work Around with Non Disclosure. My interpretation is this basically means somewhat paying off victims of bad behaviour but on the understanding they keep their problem and solution to themselves. Now at the same time Dr. Regier suggests that there were formal mechanisms set up through the GLWQA (Great Lakes Water Quality Agreements) to address contamination affecting the Great Lakes. These mechanisms included Areas of Concern (AOC) and Remedial Action Plans (RAP).

Strangely enough at the very same time I am wondering about a bit of a coincidence.  Just today I have been approached on a matter dealing with who and how has the Elmira remediation been undertaken. Basically a little bit similar to Dr. Regier's title of "A Road Not Yet Taken with Elmira's Contaminants".  Dr. Regier does however refer to Elmira's version of a Public Advisory Committee as a deplorably weak version of a RAP process. He also takes a shot at local (Elmira) polluters and their enablers by suggesting that avoiding the GLWQA  RAP method was a major success for them. 

Dr. Regier ends on a hopeful note by suggesting that even now it is not too late for Elmirans to change roads and get onto the GLWQA route with their specific RAP methodologies.

.  

ONE SIDED TRAC MEETINGS FOR DUMMIES, FELLOW TRAVELLORS, CO-OPTEES, AVERAGE JOES AND EVEN INTELLIGENT, HONEST FOLKS

 

TRAC is the result of a thirty year metamorphosis (1992-2022) of public consultation from a citizen run, citizen oriented, open to all interested parties and individuals to a polluter/politician totally controlled and membership vetted body whose real purpose is to restore credibility and trust to a grossly broken system. That system not only includes an underfunded MOE/MECP, a series of corporate successors to Uniroyal Chemical but also political aberrations of democracy from the municipal, regional, provincial and federal levels. Imagine what used to be a town council monopolized by Uniroyal Chemical employees who used to decide which local industries were approved for industrial disposal in old fashioned dumps without any  modern leachate controls or even normal restrictions on chemical and toxic wastes. Normal restrictions that is for landfills/dumps located appropriately away from residents much less located right here in town (i.e. M1, M2, First St. Landfill, Bolender Landfill etc.).

This metamorphosis has been partially successful simply due to the time involved.  Most citizens have jobs, families and homes as the major part of their responsibilities.  Hence having anyone still actively involved for nearly thirty-seven years is almost unheard of.  There is only one such who has not been the recipient of various forms of consideration including permanent guaranteed lifetime attendance at both private and public meetings and that is myself. Other forms of consideration include editing work from Conestoga Rovers (Uniroyal consultants) and or in the case of a former councillor, expense paid trips around North America to attend conferences for which she was and is totally unqualified for.   

I must add that there have been and still are local Canadian citizens residing here in Elmira and nearby who contributed greatly in years past. Some of them still contribute as they are able and thank goodness for that. Like myself, those who have paid attention, are appalled by what passes for public consultation today.  Woolwich Township are in total control of the process with the responsible polluter (Lanxess Canada) being their only source of information and data. Well to be correct Lanxess and their various client driven consultants such as GHD and WSP. All reports, all data, all speakers are at the choice of Woolwich Township. Yes this is the same political body who sat back for decades and said and did mostly nothing as Uniroyal Chemical turned our Creek into a sewer and poisoned their residents with grossly contaminated water all the time denying there was a problem. 

Can you imagine if I was allowed to speak to either Council or TRAC for even 5% of the time that is allotted to Lanxess, the MECP or GHD?  Can you imagine if other citizens not affiliated with TRAC or Woolwich were given even an hour or two to speak publicly to either body? Nor can I because currently we aren't even allowed to so much as ask a simple question at a public TRAC meeting. I live here and I pay taxes and I find your deference and one sided protection of the polluter from criticism to be dishonest, cowardly and contemptible. 

 

SPECIFICS ON LAST THURSDAY'S TRAC MEETING

 

TRAC does not stand for Totally Rotten and Corrupt. That would be unfair to almost all the citizen members on this Woolwich (with Lanxess approval) appointed committee. I expect that with perhaps only one or two exceptions they all joined hoping to contribute to a better and quicker cleanup. Now in regards to Lanxess and the MECP my acronym for TRAC is totally accurate. 

Yesterday I suggested that even Sebastian was giving the benefit of the doubt to Lanxess and their consultants far too often. I also advised readers that I had to that point only watched the on-line video (Woolwich website under Council & then Council Calendar) for the first hour and a quarter. Well I finished the rest of the video later in the day (just over two hours) and guess what? That buggar (said affectionately) Sebastian up and digs his heels in on two important points namely NAPLS/DNAPLS and the effluent criteria for NDMA at the south end of Elmira (i.e. well E7).  Lanxess and GHD pushed back hard but Sebastian, bless him, dug in his heels and insisted upon the information he had. Now the other two parties have decided that maybe they do need to check this out which is good. It could be a miscommunication by Lanxess in a report or it could be more insidious. We shall see.

Here are the results of Joe Ricker's analysis of four plumes mentioned yesterday. NDMA concentrations in the Municipal Upper (MU)  Aquifer has been greatly reduced to .086 ug/l (micrograms per litre) or parts per billion. The drinking water standard is .009 ug/l. Therefore going on thirty-seven years since the wells were shut down in 1989, NDMA is still nine and a half times greater than it's drinking water standard.

NDMA concentrations in the Municipal Lower (ML) Aquifer have also been greatly reduced to .81 ug/l. This  is NINETY times greater than the drinking water standard.

Chlorobenzene concentrations since 1989  (pumping didn't start in the Elmira Aquifers until 1998) in the Municipal Upper (MU) Aquifer have also been greatly reduced to 120 ug/l  (parts per billion). The drinking water standard for chlorobenzene is 80 ug/l therefore chlorobenzene, the allegedly easier compound to remediate, is still 50% higher than the drinking water standard.

Chlorobenzene concentrations since 1989 in the Municipal Lower (ML) Aquifer have also been greatly reduced to 144 ug/l.  This is 1.8 times higher than the drinking water standard of 80 parts per billion.

Hadley Stamm (Lanxess), bless her pointed little head,  reiterated a major revelation from approximately a year and a half ago when she stated that Lanxess believes that there is another source of chlorobenzene to the Elmira Aquifers. HALLELUJAH !  While Lanxess and friends including the MECP do not feel the public are worthy to know whom that is, my guess is still Borg Textiles or Varnicolor Chemical. If it is Varnicolor then jail time would be appropriate for MOE/MECP officials complicit in that coverup. Yours truly has been advising a second source of chlorobenzene since approximately 2004/2005 since discovering free phase DNAPL (now also recently admitted) in OW57-32R beside the Howard St. Water Tower.

All the guilty parties are heavily involved in drafting a communications strategy in order to explain away their remediation failures over the last nearly 37 years. Likely they will focus on groundwater and try to avoid the total non-cleanup of the downstream Canagagigue Creek.

Thanks to Sebastian we have a tacit admission from Lanxess that likely there are still free phase DNAPLS on their property. This is hardly a surprise to those of us who have followed the decades long  DNAPL coverup closely. Joe Ricker (WSP) and Lou Almeida (GHD) who both know where their bread is buttered, of course leapt in to minimize the possible harm to their client, which only clarifies their conflict of interest opinions.  

Geoff Moroz (Region of Waterloo) impressed me with his factual, no nonsense approach. He made it clear that even Uniroyal/Lanxess's treated groundwater effluent was high risk water and should not be used without extreme care and much better testing. He referenced emerging contaminants such as PFAS  (poly fluorinated whatever?) and as well made it clear that Lanxess's treated discharge effluent currently to the Creek is NOT being sampled for the full suite of possible contaminants. WOW! 

For those paying attention that reminds me of APT Environment's phrase from three and a half decades ago that the proposed cleanup of the aquifers should be called  PUMP & DUMP. They may have forgotten since.

TRAC MEETINGS ARE SO MUCH LIGHTER, BRIGHTER, FUNNY AND FRIVOLOUS

This of course is ideal for the responsible polluting company Lanxess Canada and as well for their alleged regulator the MECP (not the Ministry of Enhanced Corporate Pollution - not in name at least ). Now today I listened to approximately the first hour and a quarter of last Thursday's TRAC meeting with the very smooth snake oil salesman Joe Ricker (WSP) taking the lead. He supposedly does plume analytics which a skeptic (knowledgeable realist) like me views as part public relations and part comedy set. In this presentation he is partially assisted by Hadley Stamm of Lanxess who never saw a presenter that she didn't want to interrupt. 

Mr. Ricker analyzed four plumes in the Elmira Aquifers namely the MU  (Municipal Upper) NDMA plume, the ML (Municipal Lower) NDMA plume, the MU chlorobenzene plume and the ML chlorobenzene plume. Right off the bat this is leading us down the garden path as is fully intended by the guilty parties. Of course no mention of DDT or Dioxins in the Elmira Aquifers and certainly no mention of benzene, toluene, xylene, aniline, carboxin, benzothiazole, mercaptobenzothiazole, chlorophenols, polyaromatic hydrocarbons or a myriad of other solvents. I mean really all of these others contaminants absolutely affect the drinkability of the groundwater right along with NDMA and chlorobenzene. But really TRAC is more of a celebratory party rather than a dirge. No one is mourning the  wildlife that have suffered and died much less the human beings who have contracted various cancers from Uniroyal/Lanxess toxins in the air, soil, ground and surface water. That would be gauche don't you know.

Almost every second sentence is a brag about decreasing toxin concentrations of only TWO toxins. Nothing is mentioned about the status of all the other toxins. Nothing is mentioned about how very far away even the two are from drinking water standards, in both aquifers. These meetings are feel good, lets pat ourselves on the back not for any kind of successful resolution but for having deflected appropriate public approbation. Frankly I can't stomach either the company's behavior nor the MECPs. There is not one hard core citizen activist on the committee willing to rock the complacency on view. Perhaps Sebastian is the closest but he too is far too willing to always give the professional B/S artists the benefit of the doubt.

It is this complacency and glad handing that has allowed Lanxess and predecessors to change the channel and the story from a disgusting, polluting corporation killing local citizens to a supposedly successful  (it is not) environmental cleanup story.   

1982 LETTER FROM MOE TO UNIROYAL TELLS ALL

 

This above letter was written on May 5, 1982 and published in the Elmira Independent on February 19, 1991. It is the Ontario Ministry of Environment telling Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira that among other things both their Upper and Municipal aquifers on their site are heavily contaminated plus the municipal wells in the south end of Elmira (E7, E9) are in the same Municipal aquifer as is beneath the Uniroyal site. Furthermore there is a direct hydraulic connection between both locations. Uniroyal and the MOE had seven and a half years from this point to 1) tell the public the truth  2) take drastic steps to avoid the shutdown of Elmira's south wellfield (E7, E9) in November 1989.. 

A  LEFT CLICK ON THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE SHOULD MAGNIFY IT FOR YOU. OTHER METHODS MAY ALSO ASSIST.

NOW IT'S OPIOIDS AND ANTIDEPRESSANTS FOUND IN LOCAL FISH

 

The title of the story in today's K-W Record is "Researchers find traces of opioids in Ontario fish population". A few years back we were advised that birth control pills were the source of feminization of some fish in our local waters. Apparently even trace amounts of hormones getting through our wastewater treatment plants were adversely affecting fish species in the Grand River. Today it's more drugs both legal and illegal also damaging fish species. These include fentanyl, methadone and venlafaxine and as testing and research continue we will find more in the future. 

This is the big fraud, if you will, both with wastewater treatment and drinking water treatment. We don't know what we don't know. The numbers of untested chemicals in both treatment systems vastly outnumber those that are tested for. A prime example of this neglect was NDMA allegedly not being tested for in Elmira's drinking wells until 1989 despite a large chemical plant (Uniroyal Chemical) as well as Sulco, Varnicolor Chemical, Borg Textiles, Nutrite and more all in town. Both regional and provincial governments knew that NDMA was associated with rubber and rubber additives production as well as fertilizers, animal wastes (pig farms?) and chemical companies yet they conveniently let Elmira citizens unknowingly imbibe it for decades prior to sampling for it.

 Currently our authorities knowingly are allowing citizens to drink tap water with high sodium, nitrate and nitrite levels as well as low level TCE . Then there are all the toxic disinfection by-products such as THMs, HAAs, chloramines and chlorine. I wonder if locally either drinking water or wastewater is being tested for PFAs? Glyphosate concentrations, the active ingredient in Round Up herbicide are not fully known partly because of the highest Method Detection Limit in regional tap water of 25 parts per billion  

Current generations are the guinea pigs of modern day technologies and production. While the current crisis concerns water capacity we should also remember that constantly expanding populations also put enormous pressure on our surface waters which are used for their assimilative capacity (i.e. usually treated human sewage).  At the same time the more water we pull from our aquifers for expanding industry and populations the less is available for downgradient discharge into surface waters. 

Short term thinking (I.e. the growth mantra) is both unsustainable and eventually will lead to collapse. We are on that route now with limited time to reverse course. 

ONGOING, LONG TERM LIKELY NONSENSE CLAIMS BY LANXESS, MECP etc.

 

1) No chlorobenzene in the Bedrock Aquifer

2) No second source of NDMA

3) There is ongoing hydraulic containment on site

4) There is ongoing hydraulic containment off site

5)  Uniroyal is the only source of chlorobenzene in the aquifers

6) Varnicolor never handled chlorobenzene

7) There are no unacceptable health issues in the downstream Canagagigue Creek

8) DDT and Dioxins are hydrophobic hence none in the Elmira aquifers

9) DNAPLS don't need remediation. Leave them alone.

10) Achieving drinking water standards by 2028 is for certain

11) Honest unrigged, unmanipulated public consultation is beneficial

Late in the day admissions by Lanxess, MECP etc.

1)  A second source of chlorobenzene-tacit- other companies near south end of Uniroyal/Lanxess used chlorobenzene   Also an "excess" 1,900 kg. found in aquifers by Dr. Neil Thompson 

2) Yes there was off site DNAPL near W4 and Howard St. Water Tower-Jesse Wrighte

3) We can't achieve drinking water standards by 2028

4)  O.K. maybe pump & treat (hydraulic containment) on its' own won't restore the aquifers to drinking water standards

Lying to the public is both appropriate and necessary for polluters and their regulators. Based upon their behaviour they clearly believe that shareholder profits trump ethics, morality, decency and health concerns. 

      

THE GROSSLY DISHONOURABLE JUSTICE (Former?) ROBERT REILLY

 

 I was advised that in civil cases involving men versus women that he tended to side with the women's testimony. Whether accurate or not it was evident in my case in which allegations of defamation were made against myself. Now of course after reading up on libel law it seemed clear that the truth was the best defence against libel or defamation claims. That may be so but what I found was that the truth simply did not hold up against a biased or ignorant judge right from the start. Also keep in mind that the school board were involved as they backed the other party. Perhaps the dishonourable R. Reilly merely was biased in favour of the local power establishment.

I was manipulated by both the Judge and the Plaintiff's attorney out of my right to a jury trial. Without advising myself, an unrepresented defendant, the Judge agreed to a on the surface ridiculous pre-trial Motion stating that I could not attend the Plaintiff's property. I asked the Judge why this was necessary as I had not been alleged to have already done so and furthermore I had absolutely no idea or interest as to where she lived. Regardless he granted the Motion which I was later told then gave the Judge the right to remove my choice of a jury trial in favour of him (Judge) alone. What a scam!

During the trial the dishonourable judge asked me if I would appeal a verdict made against myself. While warning bells were going off  as this felt like a weird question mid trial nevertheless I answered no. I honestly didn't see how losing was possible with the numerous parent witnesses I had ready to give supporting testimony to my case. Turned out that answer likely emboldened a possibly corrupt (stupid?) judge.

Judge Reilly also refused to enter as documentary evidence written reports by the Council of Teachers. Now if I have that name incorrect the group I am referring to were the provincially mandated oversight committee who had made detailed notes of interviews they had done with a number of my witnesses. I had copies of those detailed notes and my multiple witnesses had done an excellent job in detailing odious behaviour by the Plaintiff. Judge Reilly flatly refused to enter them into the record claiming that my witnesses could speak for themselves on the stand as they did. My view was that the notes would help my defence as my witnesses testimony was reaffirmed by their earlier testimony. Then of course when Judge Reilly found against me without any legitimate contradictions or breakdown in testimony by my witnesses he flatly stated that they had all been enthralled by me and actually referred to me as the Pied Piper without a shred of any such evidence before him. He did this with confidence that if I didn't have the money for a defence lawyer at his trial, combined with my suggesting I wouldn't/couldn't appeal his decision ; then he could decide the case not based upon evidence but based upon his biases or worse.

How many other asshats sit as judges in Ontario? In Canada? Could what I view as bias  actually be corruption or maybe simple influence?  Did the dishonourable  judge have somebody important whisper in his ear that I was a *hit disturber causing trouble for the school board? Did they whisper that I was a *hit disturber causing trouble for Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira? Regardless the facts were clear. The Plaintiff had a long history of poor behaviour. Thirty years later the province (and the courts) have both commented and acted upon bad behaviour of the same board. How much damage and disrespect have all parties including the courts suffered because of this gross miscarriage of justice? 

"MAGIC BULLET" CLEANUP THEORY : THE TAIL (DEVELOPERS) CONTINUES TO WAG THE DOG (WATERLOO REGION)

 

Today's K-W Record has yet another front page story  about the Region of Waterloo Water Crisis written by Luisa D'Amato and titled "There could be more water available than we think, engineer says". This engineer of course represents local homebuilders looking for more water capacity in the region. The engineer involved claims to be both an engineer and a groundwater expert. Hmm a certain odour is already arising.

Once again we are advised in this article that Cambridge water can't be sent to Kitchener-Waterloo due to the different disinfection system used. Now again this isn't spelled out but I had presumed that it related to a chloramine disinfection system versus a straight chlorine system. Again I wish the Region as well as the Record would clarify and or confirm this. There is another possibility and that refers to the AOP or Advanced Oxidation Process used at the Middleton Wellfield to remove TCE (trichloroethylene) from the groundwater. Now technically this is not a "disinfection" system because disinfection normally refers to the removal of bacteria such as Coliforms and E. Coli.

The "magic bullet" cleanup theory mentioned in the title above is a quote from the first and by far best Chair of TAG (Technical Advisory Group) namely Dr. Richard Jackson. The homebuilder's engineer suggested that "recent scientific advances" may result in a safe water supply for Elmira "sooner than we think". Hmm my experience (36 years) here in Elmira is that hot air and bulls*it are plentiful whereas new technologies all come with drawbacks. Dr. Jackson also suggested the same whenever Uniroyal/Chemtura representatives made extravagant claims about faster cleanup.

Apparently the Parkway resevoir and wellfield has been upgraded and or repaired. I hope they are properly treating the TCE that's been there for decades. Meanwhile still no further mention of the Greenbrook Wellfield (Stirling & Homer Watson Blvd. Kitchener) or the river wells along the Grand River in Kitchener known as the Woolner and Pompeii Wellfields. Just what we need, more contaminated wells added to the system likely with minimal treatment and counting on dilution from other wells to reduce contaminant concentrations.   

WHY HAS THE UNIROYAL CONTROLLED ELMIRA GROUNDWATER CLEANUP FAILED?

 

First of all keep in mind that the Elmira groundwater cleanup is barely one third of the problem. The Uniroyal site was and is a disgusting subsurface mess with wastes in the form of tars, sludges, liquids and solids in places down to seventy feet below ground surface. Then there is of course the Canagagigue Creek which to this day has not received so much as a shovelful removal of soils or sediments downstream from the company's property. Air has also been a huge problem in the past although it would appear that the company and successors have done better with it than anywhere else.

The off-site Elmira groundwater has failed because of both on Uniroyal and off-site failure to do source removal of toxic wastes. Years of pump & treat (hydraulic containment) could have been reduced if they had done so. This failure to do source removal off-site is particularly egregious when decades after the fact Lanxess and consultants (Jesse Wright) admitted that there were companies using chlorobenzene in the area of First and Union St. This combined with the known but denied  DNAPL for twenty plus years one hundred feet below surface at OW57-32R (Howard St. water tower) is a big part of the reason why chlorobenzene to this day is still well above drinking water standards in both the Elmira Municipal Upper and Municipal Lower aquifers. Its' removal or encapsulation or other remediation would have cut decades off of the time required by using pump & treat alone. 

On-site failure to remove DNAPL and other wastes has also guaranteed that each and every slowdown or stoppage in on site pumping has allowed even more contamination to readily flow off site. It has also then demanded more and more off-site pumping in order to catch up the new and ongoing leakage of contamination off site. I also believe that besides the now known and admitted sources of Nutrite (Yara), Uniroyal and Varnicolor Chemical that contaminated the municipal aquifers with ammonia, NDMA, chlorobenzene and dozens of other solvents; that there was at least one more source of NDMA. It could easily have been Varnicolor or someone else although our authorities would rather pass on of old age than ever admit to it.

Finally there is the obvious failure for Uniroyal and successors to maintain pumping rates at their own Target pumping rates for years at a time. They even admitted that they needed to grossly increase their own off-site pumping rates (Triple them) and never even got close much less been able to maintain their original far too low pumping rates. They talked a good cleanup and lazy politicians and a few citizens let them get away with it.   

THE ELMIRA DNAPL COVERUP AND SYLVIA BERG

 

Sylvia Berg former second -in-command at APT Environment rolled over and reversed herself and APTE's position on DNAPL's after December 10, 1993. In so doing she caused the loss of three strong APTE members including one of the original founders Esther Thur as well as Richard Clausi and myself. Esther was a real founder along with Sandra Bray and Susan Rupert. Notice the last name Rupert; not the co-opted pretender Susan Bryant who both herself and the media too often inaccurately refer to as one of the founders. Sylvia in reneging on her and APTE's strong opposition to Uniroyal Chemical's inadequate and inaccurate DNAPL position basically totally sold the farm on a proper cleanup right there. That was the beginning of the end for Elmira achieving a proper and permanent cleanup of their drinking water aquifers. At the time however I still naively believed in the basic decency and honesty of Sylvia and Susan Bryant.

Sylvia and Glenys McMullen who both assisted me in writing APTE's DNAPL critique on Conestoga Rovers (Uniroyal consultants) final DNAPL report were in complete agreement with our finished report. Oddly however Sylvia wanted me to sign the report on my own as she correctly stated I had done the bulk of the DNAPL reading and research. I protested, she insisted so I said O.K. blissfully unaware of the game she was playing. Then after the Ministry of Environment's surprise acceptance on December 10, 1993 of the badly flawed Conestoga Rovers DNAPL report, she suddenly wanted to support it. What the hell?

She convinced APTE coordinators (Susan B. was in India) in January 1994 that despite her, Glenys and my DNAPL critique that Conestoga Rovers report was O.K. This was also despite a Kitchener-Waterloo Record article of September 28, 1993 titled "Cleanup of 2 toxic waste pits going smoothly, Uniroyal says" written by John Roe. Sylvia was quoted in this Record article stating that the company must excavate "all DNAPL hotspots" and as well she stated in reference to the environment ministry needing to approve Uniroyal's DNAPL plan that she'd "be very surprised if they found this report adequate." 

Despite all this she reversed her position after December 10, 1993 without any substantive grounds to do so. She turned the APTE January 1994 meeting into a bit of a popularity contest and if I still didn't realize then what she was then neither did anybody else. The myth that APTE were a united and big happy family was just that, a myth. There were other less than amicable departures later on although I believe that Susan Bryant was responsible for them.

  

REGION STEALS THEIR WATER & THEN TREATS WILMOT CITIZENS POORLY - TRAC MEETING THIS THURSDAY 6PM. IN WOOLWICH COUNCIL CHAMBERS (MORE SMOKE & MIRRORS TO DAZZLE THE PUBLIC)

 

Geez my title above could encompass half my Blog post today if I were a little more short winded. Joe McGuinty of the K-W Record has a front page article titled "Wilmot farmers and residents raise the alarm".  I've been hoping that dry wells and former wetlands were symptoms primarily near the west side of Kitchener and were localized drawdowns in the aquifer from high volumes of municipal pumping. Unfortunately the Record seems to be hearing from folks a significant distance from Kitchener who are actually closer to Baden and what I see on my map as "Wilmot Centre".  Now again without proper data and documentation including groundwater levels and stratigraphic (subsurface) maps it is difficult to be 100% certain but the drilled well in Petersburg that is discussed in today's Record certainly caught my eye.  That's not only not a shallow well but at 294 feet deep I have to believe that that is one hell of a deep well, screened well into the AFB2 aquifer beneath Baden, New Hamburg, Petersburg etc. If that is the case then unless there is a regional well pumping steadily within a mile or less that well water distance from ground surface that used to be at 55 feet should not now be down to 122 feet below ground surface. 

Normally water elevation is measured in masl or metres above sea level. That said whichever way you measure it a drop in elevation of nearly seventy feet is extremely concerning. We the public still need multiple groundwater elevation readings from twenty or thirty years ago to compare with the elevation readings today (as in several wells on different days and weeks). Anything else and we are simply being harassed, intimidated and bafflegabbed by professional bulls*it artists (i.e. politicians) and their well paid employees who know where their bread is buttered.    

REGION OF WATERLOO'S DIRTY TAP WATER SECRETS

 

For many years I faithfully waited each spring (March) for the Region of Waterloo to release their Annual Water Report. It did take several years of careful observation, monitoring and research before I felt even reasonably confident that I had a fair understanding of the good, the bad and the ugly within those reports. Some of the negatives were glaring such as the far too few industrial chemicals being monitored including up until recently the infamous NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) made known by Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira. Then there were the far too many wells in Waterloo Region impacted by a notorious industrial cleaner namely trichloroethylene (TCE). There were also far too many wells with incredibly high Sodium (i.e. sodium chloride or salt) levels and as well our landscape and agricultural neighbours have also blessed us with too many Nitrates and Nitrites . Sodium as well as Nitrites are not healthy for individuals with heart problems etc.

I let my vigilance down over the last couple of years and just decided this morning that a look see was a good idea. Well! The bad news is very bad and the good news so far is non-existent. That said I have not completed my foray through the Region's gilded lily Water Report for 2025.  Some of these reports can be found on the Region's website under Water and Wastewater. Likely most of their Annual Water Reports follow provincial guidelines for them however that isn't necessarily saying much. I strongly suspect that there was lots of "collaboration" and "consultation" between municipal and regional water managers prior to the province setting out the rules for these reports. The lack of NDMA testing of wells located within urban areas for decades after the Elmira Water Crisis (1989) is a prime example of a major loophole.

Here are my first two surprises in the Region of Waterloo 2025 Annual Water Report. The Region have been drilling new wells over the last few years almost as if they expected our current water quantity issues and they have been shutting down some notoriously polluted wells. Also the Strange St. Wellfield (Kitchener) appears to have seriously deteriorated in water quality with a large number of detections of trichloroethylene (TCE) . Now this wasn't exactly a shocker as that wellfield has had industrial chemical detections over many years. Also it is possible that the Region may have outsmarted themselves by blending/diluting mildly contaminated water with what they thought was less contaminated water that maybe really wasn't.

The shut down wellfield that jumped at me was the lack of appearance of the William St. Wellfield located at the corner of Regina St. and William St. in Waterloo. Now this wellfield has had trichloroethylene (TCE) in it for many decades and yet was a staple water source for many, many decades. Did the TCE levels rise with increased pumping perhaps? TCE is a DNAPL chemical which can reside in the subsurface slowly dissolving into groundwater over decades and even centuries.

These reports need improvements making them easier to read for laypersons who have not spent decades studying our water supply and groundwater contamination.

LUISA HAS HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD. THE REGION OF WATERLOO HAVE LOST CITIZENS' TRUST JUST AS I LOST TRUST DUE TO THE ELMIRA WATER CRISIS

Today's Opinion Piece by Luisa D'Amato is titled "We're not just low on water. We're also low on trust". Luisa begins by referring to the Region's behaviour as a slap in the face to Wilmot. I agree and maybe, just maybe a little chaos is necessary aka such as closing the Strait of Hormuz. Not literally of course but figuratively. For example what would happen if Wilmot advised the Region that maintenance and repairs were necessary on the Wilmot Centre wellfield. Not just on one well but on all of them, however many there are. Maybe start off telling the Region that the wells are closed to regional pumping for only 24 hours. Then unlike the Region who apparently have never apologized for pumping six years worth of water from Wilmot; Wilmot after 24 hours could say "Oops sorry, we were wrong. It's going to take longer."

I'm really not sure that regional councillors are bright enough to fully understand that in the real world  when you crap on somebody they tend to crap right back. Regional staff told councillors two days ago that they desperately need the current 30 litres per second of water from Wilmot and are going to need even more in the future. Reporter Luisa D'Amato finds that behaviour astonishing and for her an indication that the Region is currently under extraordinary pressure regarding water.

Luisa suggests that it is possible that regional water pumping has lowered the groundwater levels to below the depth where local, nearby wells have been drilled even near the Wilmot Centre Wellfield. Hence new, deeper, private wells possibly costing $30,000 may be required. Full documented disclosure has not yet been made  available as to the health (quantity) of water available in the AFB2 Aquifer that is a major component of the Waterloo Moraine. The problem is that the same aquifer is below Mannheim and those wells according to Geoff Moroz (regional staff) have been pumped nearly dry and need to rest whereas the Wilmot Centre Wellfield according to the same Geoff Moroz is in "excellent" health with lots of water. 

Maybe there is some creativity going on here and maybe not but it's way past time for the Region to understand that full disclosure includes documentation and written data, not just their word. Here in Elmira after 36 years of similar behaviour by the MECP, the polluting companies, Woolwich Township etc. I no longer believe anything they say and barely half of what they put in writing.