NDAs TO HIDE WORKING GROUP DISCUSSIONS ABOUT PUTTING CONTAMINATED WELLS BACK INTO OUR DRINKING WATER SYSTEM

 

DISCRIMINATORY NOT TO INCLUDE ELMIRA'S NDMA WATER INTO THE MIX

If Kitchener and Cambridge are allowed to put their trichloroethylene (and more) contaminated water into the big regional Integrated Urban System (IUS) drinking water pot then why not Elmira as well? Lanxess Canada have been moaning and groaning for the last couple of years about wastefulness as they dump somewhat treated groundwater into the Canagagigue Creek. If the Region are seriously planning on using retread wells (Woolner, Pompeii, Greenbrook & Parkway Wellfields)  with long histories of contamination then how dare you discriminate against our fine, Mennonite, contaminated water. Is our chlorobenzene, NDMA and maybe even dioxin contaminated water not good enough for you? Who knows, the state of knowledge whether toxicity or health related is so limited that maybe the various contaminants might cancel each other out.

I see two possibilities here. We could develop a two tier water system whereby our politicians, developers, builders and real estate folks are serviced from the industrially uncontaminated wells and the rest of us can drink from the leftover, retreaded and refurbished chemically enhanced wells. Hmm maybe we might want to include doctors, hospital staff and  police in the favoured status, unenhanced wells. Certainly we shouldn't charge the unsophisticated masses a premium for the extra additives that they will receive.

The other plan is to begin deporting older, useless retired citizens like me who are no longer contributing to the general good. Now by "deporting" I only mean to kick them out of Waterloo Region in order to make room for all the vibrant, hard working newcomers that Doug Ford and the Region are set on.  Just think of the advantages. Bringing in an additional 300,000 people by 2051 is a piece of cake if no upgrades are needed to our wastewater treatment systems (sewage treatment plants), our hospitals and health care and our drinking water systems. Furthermore if you squeeze your eyes, just so, you can see that we might actually be increasing the lifespans of our older, more health challenged citizens by not making them drink our NDMA, dioxin, chlorobenzene, trichloroethylene, benzene etc. mostly low level contaminated water. Talk about a Win-Win !

Non Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) are not everybodies cup of tea. There will be shouts of hooliganism, lying, non-transparency and non-accountability but that happens every time when elites (smarter/richer)  focus on who really matters which is them not us. For progress to happen you can't let the majority (non elite masses) run the show and it is so much easier to control them by keeping them in the dark. Hence the huge advantages to NDAs keeping difficult information from the uninformed public who wouldn't understand it anyways.  Or as Jeff MacIntyre (builder) stated in today's Record article titled "Region pushes NDAs for water talks";  he likes NDAs because he doesn't want to sit by the door like a Golden Retriever (the public) waiting for a report. Right on Mr. MacIntyre !

P.S. Just because Elmira water isn't good enough for us right now doesn't mean it's not good enough if a little diluted for the rest of the Region of Waterloo. Afterall wouldn't you drink a really fine wine from a jug just because someone peed in it the night before, emptied it and then filled it with a vintage beverage for you?   

THANK YOU TERRY PENDER, JIM POLING, BRENT JOLLY FOR YOUR CORRECTION IN TODAY'S K-W RECORD

 

Gosh that wasn't so difficult now was it? Your CORRECTION on page A2 with the title "Re: Councillor wants halt on new water-taking permits in Waterloo Region" was clear and concise. I certainly didn't need any thanks or applause or public adulation for doing what I've been doing here in Dogpatch (Elmira) for the last 36 years plus. My volunteer work has always been in the public interest and yes besides environmental failures that also includes picking up on mathematical failures that have gotten by reporters and editors. Based upon Record Editor Jim Poling and National Media Council Brent Jolly's pathetic mishandling of my polite and courteous request for a Correction/Retraction on the Lanxess Canada/Elmira Water Crisis story in late November 2025 written by Terry Pender; I decided this time to be a hard a*s about it. Instead of approaching initially only Terry Pender and Jim Poling and later Brent Jolly as I did last November, this time I sent out my Blog posting immediately to Woolwich Council, Waterloo Region Council, TRAC, MECP,  Lanxess, Woolwich Observer, and the K-W Record plus maybe a few more. Gosh I wonder how pissed all your developer friends were when they figured out that the Record instead of downplaying or minimizing the crisis you were actually (unintentionally probably) artificially increasing it with your sloppy mathematics. Now after that slap to the back of your heads just let me say this: WELL DONE! Your series on the Region's water crisis has been terrific so far. I am however still wondering when you are going to publish the truth about the retread wells the Region want to put back in service in order to supplement the volume of our water supply.

Today's Record article titled "Third-generation Wilmot resident has witnessed the water table drop" certainly casts doubt upon the demands and claims of developers and builders suggesting that this Region wide water crisis is an engineering problem only. I have no doubt that our friends at the University of Waterloo who have been studying groundwater recharge, discharge and elevations for decades have a good idea whether or not putting more straws into the communal milkshake will continue to lower the water levels to dangerous levels or not. Personally until I see peer accepted, proven and verified data on the Waterloo Moraine Aquifers in particular, I am very skeptical that those who have personally made tons of money through development and building are speaking for the public interest.  

K-W Record I applaud your Correction in today's newspaper. I really don't believe that your readers will hold it against Mr. Pender that he made an honest mistake. I expect that they, like myself, will be more impressed that the Record quickly acknowledged and corrected that mistake.  

      

SPEAKING TO THE INTENTIONALLY DEAF, BLIND & STUPID: i.e. PROVINCIAL, REGIONAL, & MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES

 

Clearly conflicts of interest are front and centre. All the above groups have been offered incentives not to be reasonable, responsive and honest in their dealings with myself and others still advocating for a proper cleanup of the downstream Canagagigue Creek, the former Uniroyal Chemical site and the Elmira Aquifers. These incentives may very well be worded as benefits to the local community that would otherwise not be forthcoming. Of course citizens and residents have never been invited to comment on this possible tradeoff. For example would you undermine your physical health in exchange for a tiny bit more financial security? Some might, some might not but none of us have been given that choice thanks to our non-transparent and non-accountable politicians.

So why do I continue? Simple. One most of them are not well informed and feel they have no need to be . Their direction and decisions have already been made for them and it's easier and safer not to rock the boat. So they need to be informed whether or not they act upon that knowledge. Secondly I'm producing documentation that in the future will condemn at least some of the worst offenders. All of them will scuttle like rats when the whole scam collapses. Whether it's slowly or with a bang they will be looking for cover and for excuses. The more written documentation and facts that they clearly have received the more difficult that will be. That is why I continue. The future (& present) need to know the truth and our elected representatives are not providing it.

THE PRICE OF WHISTLEBLOWING

 

Polluters don't like you.  Ministry of Environment doesn't like you. Municipal councils don't like you. Regional councils don't like you. Co-opted citizens don't like you. Fellow travellors of polluters don't like you. You get blacklisted from local jobs especially in a place like Elmira. You are discriminated against even by local groups desperate for volunteer assistance. Slander and bad mouthing occur behind your back. Others take credit for your volunteer work that you have done. Negativity and skepticism need special care and attention. Trust in strangers diminishes in direct proportion to the manipulative liars you meet, confront, console or get stabbed in the back by. 

The plus side of whistleblowing: You develop one hell of a sense of humour. You learn dozens of euphemisms for the word "liars". Irony and hypocrisy become much clearer. You see the humour in everything. Double entendres, synonyms, puns all leap out at you. Your newly found wicked sense of humour is coiled and ready to spring at any opportunity. Eventually both your lie and liar detection skills do improve. You begin to understand people's weaknesses and why they do what they do. You learn the various shades of good, bad, evil and sociopathic. 

Despite everything: Hope Springs Eternal

WELL DONE JOE GOWING DESPITE THE K-W RECORD LOOKING LIKE IDIOTS

 

Oh my God but it's so sad , so pathetic and so incredibly funny all at the same time. First of all I will be sending at least a few of my recent Blog postings to regional councillor Joe Gowing not because his saying one good thing is going to convince this political skeptic that he's an honest man but because it's the first intelligent thing I've heard so far from any regional councillor. Go suck a lemon Barry Vrbanovic. I will also of course be sending this one to the usual guilty parties but also to Brent Jolly of mediacouncil.ca. He's the twit who apparently decided that reporter Terry Pender shouldn't have to make corrections and or retractions after writing his story last November about Lanxess Canada and the failure of the groundwater cleanup here in Elmira, Ontario.

So why am I laughing so hard? Well when you in writing advise a newspaper (Waterloo Region Record) that their reporter (Mr. Pender) has written and had published a story with multiple inaccuracies in it and neither that newspaper nor the governing body for newspapers' accuracy (National Media Council) make even the slightest attempt to learn about, clarify or rectify those errors; and then the same reporter shortly afterwards makes some incredibly blatant (and public) errors in another story; well you just have to break out with the belly laughs.

So what did the divine Mr. Pender do this time? More importantly will the K-W Record actually publish the corrections or retractions? Should I really rub their noses in it here and now or should I wait for the corrections/retractions to appear. Or not. The thing is it's really not a bad article overall. It's title in today's Record is "Councillor wants to halt permits for gravel pit to draw groundwater". It's just unfortunate that the nasty and guilty parties will likely exert even more pressure on the Record to do their bidding. Bidding such as no longer publishing quotes from me for example. Bidding such as intentionally undermining knowledgeable citizens credibility when they are told to do so. Sorry K-W Record but you've been asking for this for a very long time. Just like the Woolwich Observer in Elmira I've tried very hard to be friends but you've behaved like ass*oles and clearly I'm fed up with you.

I'll give readers a very strong push in the right direction here. Do the math. Yes Terry Pender, Joe Gowing etc. are correct in that it is asinine to continue issuing new Water Taking Permits for industry, gravel pits and golf course until we know that we've absolutely got enough water to cover current  permits plus commercial and residential needs. That said however Mr. Pender is undermining his story by pretty egregious and blatant mathematics failures. For example is 9.7 million litres per day, ten times greater than Toyota's water useage at 24 litres per second? I don't think so.  Also is the 9.7 million litres a day water taking actually the same as 240 litres per second that he claims? Again I don't think so. Do the math folks. Apparently it's hard for both politicians and reporters to do math and certainly the former doesn't surprise me at all. Just look at M.P.P. Mike Harris Jr. Jr.. We all know that there are no qualifications required to be a parent (in his case five times) and we know the very same is true for politicians. That makes him a double winner. Newspapers' mathematical failures do surprise me somewhat.  I'm more interested in their integrity however. Will they publish a correction or retraction???

DEVELOPERS ARROGANCE ON DISPLAY? OR IS IT SOMETHING ELSE?

 Well I can see now why the Record didn't want to have reporter Terry Pender admit to a number of inaccuracies in his Lanxess/Elmira story back in late November. He'd already been tapped for this series on water issues in our Region and they didn't want even the tiniest blemish on his credibility. That is ironic to me because I never believed that Mr. Pender had made up his "facts" but that simply he'd been bullsh**ted to by Lanxess and other story tellers. 

Today's article by Mr. Pender is titled "Development should not be slowed by region's water shortage, MPP says". The MPP is our very own idiot Mike Harris Jr. Jr., the very same fellow who had five kids before he decided to research birth control. Apparently he thought it was generally like immunization and that there was a "herd immunity" element involved. You know one has to wonder about an out of town fellow who gets parachuted into a riding where the incumbent has the same name as him. Of course his Daddy and colleagues booted our Mike Harris out of his political seat to make room for Mike Harris Jr.Jr.

So Mike Harris Jr.Jr. feels that a water shortage should not delay growth and development. Wonderful then let him and his progeny go sit in the light, licking their lips pleading to have their water turned back on. Come on Mikey show us the way. Also Joseph Puopolo executive officer with Polocorp Inc. (development co.) stating that "Temporary infrastructure constraints should not be used as a justification to stall development.".  Really and when did Mr. Puopolo get his credentials in hydrogeology? How does he know it's a temporary shortage versus a long term result of mining too much water from the Waterloo Moraine?

Furthermore Mr. Puopolo has the audacity to suggest that the 20 per cent resiliency factor in the water system is unnecessary? Again he knows this how exactly? Common sense says otherwise.

Then we have the idiot Region of Waterloo forming a working group with developers to increase the supply of water to the system. Hmm odd that the Region didn't form a working group with the Food Bank to increase the supply of food to the needy. Or how about a working group with our local drug addicts to enhance the supply perhaps of safer drugs to decrease overdose deaths? And on and on. What makes the developers so special?  Ahh money $$$ and $$$ political $$$donations $$$perhaps? 

Maybe developers are not exactly arrogant.  They are simply puppet masters and which regional councillors are their puppets do you think? Is it even possible that recent job leavings in the Region's Water departments reflect a tiny, internal revolt by honest and concerned employees? Could professionally credentialed water managers have had enough of the glib, elected political twits always demanding full steam ahead on development and growth and damn the torpedoes? Could a few inside, honest individuals have decided that maybe one torpedo is desperately needed and they've fired it to shake up the entrenched, pro growth mantra making a few immensely wealthy at the expense of the many? 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? NO OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO RETREADED, CONTAMINATED DRINKING WELLS BEING PUT BACK IN SERVICE?

 

I thought that our authorities couldn't go much lower than ignoring dioxins flowing into the Martin swimming pond used by local Mennonite children for decades here in Elmira.  I was wrong. Based upon last Saturday's K-W Record story written by Luisa D'Amato titled "Will we have enough water?" it appears that they indeed can go lower. In order to keep the money/gravy train running for developers and builders the Region of Waterloo are suggesting dishonestly refurbishing and retreading long closed contaminated wells to put them back into service. Perhaps they will dilute them when possible in order to keep them under some theoretical (but intrinsically inaccurate) concentration protecting human health and maybe they won't especially when supplies are low. I stated that it was a "dishonest" refurbishment because the public have never been clearly advised as to the sources and toxic contents in that groundwater in the first place.

Today's Record carries new information from reporter Terry Pender in an article titled "Gravel pits seek water-taking permits in midst of crisis". Wow clearly both our regional councillors as well as our other authorities (MECP for example) have no shame. Recently the Region have approved a 30 litre per second withdrawal of water from Wilmot Township to be put into the Kitchener, Waterloo and area water systems. Now Esbaugh Sand & Gravel want to remove 9.7 million litres of pristine groundwater per day for use in the new Hallman gravel pit. Do you think they are going to be returning 9.7 million litres per day of pristine groundwater to the deeper aquifers or are they going to be returning dirty groundwater that has been used to wash debris, organic matter, leaves, surface and shallow bacteria, dust etc. from the stones that they have removed and crushed from near surface? The sand and gravel above those aquifers fifty to ninety feet below ground filtered out contaminants and has securely stored that water for decades and longer.

Ms. D'Amato's article from last Saturday briefly mentions that one of the three Parkway wells near Fairway Rd. and Manitou Dr. is contaminated. She did not mention highly toxic trichloroethylene (TCE) or that all three wells have been closed for good reason. These wells are close enough together that whichever one is pumping will very quickly draw the TCE plume towards it . That plume is already within the cone of influence of all three wells.  Secondly Ms. D'Amato did not mention long standing problems with the Greenbrook wells drawing contaminated water from under the Ottawa St. Landfill towards themselves. Avid newspaper readers may recall the Regional scandal involving their landfill sites illegally taking liquid toxic wastes from Varnicolor Chemical and other local polluters back in the early 1990s. Perhaps the human error several years ago at the Greenbrook Wellfield in which a driver discharged ammonia into the wrong tank (chlorine) causing an explosion was the excuse they needed to shut those wells down for a long rest. Finally what I suspect may by far be the worst of the lot is the Woolner/Pompeii Wellfields. There are literally dozens of hydrogeological reports from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s showing groundwater contamination naturally flowing downgradient from the back of Safety-Kleen (formerly Breslube) towards the aquifer's discharge point into the Grand River. The fact that the City of Kitchener and the Region had drinking wells known as "river wells" beside the Grand River only exacerbated the speed at which the contaminants flowed from upstream areas such as the "Black Lagoon" (between Breslube and the Grand R.). towards the Grand.

I dare local councils including Regional to continue ignoring these facts. You idiots are headed towards a future involving courts and all the money in the world will not wash the stink off of you.

TODAY'S RECORD ARTICLE ("SLEEPING GIANT") WAS INFORMATIVE & EDUCATIONAL ALBEIT WITH VERY LITTLE NEW INFORMATION

 

Two things did pop out at me though. The repeated claim that the two disinfection systems aren't mixed together because they produce stinky/smelly water and secondly the claim that the Bedrock Aquifer below the Waterloo Moraine contains too much sulphur and manganese whereas the Bedrock Aquifer below Cambridge is fine for potable water. Now I have gone and checked and indeed they are two distinct Bedrock formations and both have Dolostone in them. Now I have often heard that Bedrock Aquifer water isn't as aesthetically pleasing as Overburden water from sand and gravels. Bedrock Aquifers certainly have been noted as having a sulphur smell to them. But why is one fine and the other not?

Again regarding the two disinfection systems I would like more than the bald claim that the water from them together produces smells. I would also like to see a confirmation that indeed the two disinfection systems are chlorine versus chloramines. My understanding is that both disinfection systems produce chlorine smells which everybody knows and nobody likes.

To date no response to my Saturday posting here advising of the various groundwater wells affected by industrial contamination in Waterloo Region. This includes nothing from Woolwich Council, Waterloo Regional Council, TRAC, MECP (Environment Ministry), Lanxess Canada, K-W Record and the Woolwich Observer. In other words currently neither the media, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, three levels of government (2 councils & 1 provincial ministry), the corporation currently responsible for restoring the Elmira Aquifers (Lanxess) and finally the Woolwich Council appointed citizens committee (TRAC) have responded with either requests for further data or with questions. 

Here in Ontario and Woolwich Township that means public engagement and public consultation actually are more about avoiding public consultation with informed and determined citizens than otherwise. It means promoting conversation with folks deferential to authority but avoiding at all costs public discussions with those who ask either difficult or embarrassing questions. I would further suggest that the more informed and difficult questioners are defamed, backstabbed and discriminated against by our elected authorities.   

  

WATER NEWS: FEAR OF PRIVATIZATION & $100 MILLION RESERVE FUND UNTOUCHED WITH REPAIRS & REBUILDS SITTING IDLE

 

Terry Pender of the K-W Record has a front page article titled "Water crisis sparks fears of privatization" and Luisa D'Amato has an Opinion piece titled "A truce is reached in the water crisis, but the hard work is ahead". Regarding the privatization fears I suggest that the Region likely through their councillors have played directly into Doug Ford and the Conservatives hands. Apparently Bill 60 is the culprit as the provincial Conservative government passed it last year which among other things permits the sale of municipality's water infrastructure to private corporations. Politicians such as our own Sandy Shantz used the Min. of Environment's and Chemtura's boycott of CPAC back in late 2014 as an excuse to dump citizen volunteers on CPAC despite it being the intransigence and dishonesty of the other two parties impeding cleanup progress. Now the Region have handed the provincial government the excuse they need on a platter. Clearly the Region of Waterloo are incompetent as they have allowed our water system to deteriorate so badly.

Luisa D'Amato's Opinion piece is a little different. She states that a truce has been reached between developers, builders and the Region of Waterloo. Not so fast Luisa. I view your "truce" as more of a capitulation. What do you think brought on this water crisis in the first place? Clearly regional councillors are all ears when developers and friends come calling but deaf and blind when environmentalists and activists (i.e. citizens)  appear as Delegates requesting either slower growth or better infrastructure such as water treatment, sewage treatment, better remediation of contaminated sites etc. 

I will say that I do agree with Ms. D'Amato in regards to hard work being needed as well as answers to questions being required such as why was this water crisis such a surprise to so many.

HOO BOY ARE WE (RMOW) IN BIG WATER TROUBLE! DEVELOPERS, BUILDERS & POSSIBLY EVEN REPORTERS SIMPLY HAVE NO IDEA

 

I've been following all the articles, opinion pieces and Letters To The Editor carefully. Overall K-W Record reporters are doing a great job bringing the facts as they know them to the public's attention. The trouble is that the Region have been much less than forthcoming for many decades now hence neither the public, the developers, builders, politicians or the media truly understand the mess we are in. The bottom line is that having read Luisa D'Amato's TWO page article titled "Will we have enough water ?" the answer is an unequivocal no. Luisa among other things advises readers about the steps to increase our water supply both immediately plus over the next four or five years and I find that terrifying.

Why is it terrifying? It is terrifying because the Region clearly are desperate to avoid litigation from developers and builders who have sunk large amounts of time and money into proposed new developments whether they be detached homes, townhouses, condominiums or office buildings. How desperate you ask? They are so desperate they are pardon the pun "Going back to the well" in order to increase their water supply. Some of these "wells" have been shut down for years and in some cases decades. Why were they shut down in the first place, you ask. Because they were CONTAMINATED. This includes trichloeoethylene (TCE) in the Parkway wells (Deilcraft), benzene in the Greenbrook Wellfield (courtesy of Ottawa St. Landfill), multiple solvents and industrial chemicals with PCBs floating in oil (LNAPL)  upgradient of the Woolner and Pompeii Wellfields along the Grand River (Breslube). Other problems with these river wells as they are called is odour issues that do not occur in groundwater wells located away from surface water. Speaking of surface water the Middleton Wellfield is in the south end of Cambridge right beside the Grand River. The wells however are screened in the Bedrock Aquifer and likely would be separate from the river water however they are not separate from the free phase (DNAPL) TCE in the fractured bedrock fissures and pores.

Also pumping more water from the Middleton Wellfield which supposedly can be then pumped uphill to Waterloo and Kitchener will likely draw out more dissolved TCE from the Bedrock Aquifers. As it is there is a special and very expensive TCE treatment system called AOP (Advanced Oxidation Process). The other allegedly still unresolved problem is the different bacterial disinfection system used at the Middleton Wellfield versus the Mannheim Service Area.  My guess is that we are talking a chlorine system versus a chloramine system.

Wilmot Township have been picked to supply water to the Mannheim Service Area almost immediately. That combined with the loss of recharge due to the 700 acre proposed industrial megasite should go over well with Wilmot residents and politicians. Gravel pits, industrial megasites, plus supplying water to K-W  should be a fairly explosive mixture for the Region.

So let's summarize. We (developers, builders, politicians) want one million people here by 2050. Do we also want more contaminated water being mixed with what clean water we have left to keep us at least technically below the Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS)? Are we so desperate for growth that we will continue to revive old, shut down contaminated wells to boost our water supply? Meanwhile our river water source (The Grand) will continue receiving increasingly larger loads of treated (hopefully) human sewage as we approach one million people. WHAT POSSIBLY COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS SCENARIO?

"HEADS SHOULD ROLL AT REGION FOR NOT PROTECTING WATER"

Not coincidentally the title of this posting is identical to the one in the K-W Record's Letters To The Editor today. That Letter is written by John Waylett on behalf of the Property Taxpayers Alliance. While Mr. Waylett takes umbrage with MPP Aislinn Clancy's recent article criticizing Premier Doug Ford's environmental missteps, I feel that there is room to agree with both of them.  Yes Doug and the provincial Conservative government have behaved towards the environment exactly as is to be expected by a Conservative government. In other words badly. 

At the same time clearly our regional government have been leading us down the garden path for many decades as they blithely swallowed the Federal and Provincial Growth mantra without conditions or proper preparation.  Did we learn nothing from the 30,000-40,000 influx of Indian students attending Conestoga College? The Region did not have enough housing, jobs, food banks, healthcare, sewage treatment or drinking water facilities to keep up to the demand. 

Mr. Waylett is also correct in that the Region need to disclose to taxpayers how we got into this latest crisis involving water supply. Remember this is after the influx of students has been dramatically reduced. Does anyone really believe the Grand River, as a depository of our many sewage treatment plants, is ever going  to be the same after we hit 1,000,000 people living and working here? I for one do not.

My last point is this. Ultimately regional senior planners and water managers will do as they are told by a multitude of uneducated and woefully ignorant "professional" politicians. The word "professional" does not refer to their academic or technical qualifications it refers to their abilities to fib, gild the lily and weasel out of accountability and responsibility. When in trouble they will hire more credentialed staff (to hide behind and ignore) and form more committees (citizens' preferably) to insulate themselves from crises and blame of their own making.

DEVELOPERS & BUILDERS WIN AT REGIONAL COUNCIL

 

Well I'd sure be keeping an eye on Barry Vrbanovic as well as all the other regional councillors who voted to ignore their own third party report which stated "..in 2023, 2024 and 2025, unsustainable levels of water was pumped from the Waterloo Moraine, lowering aquifer water levels faster than they can be replenished.." . This quote was read to them by Kevin Thomason vice-chair of the Grand River Environmental Network (GREN). Despite this regional council decided to earmark 50% of new water capacity to support future development.

Today's K-W Record carries the following article by Bill Jackson titled "Up to half of new water capacity to support future development".  Some interesting (for me)other points in the article include the name Amy Shaw. Oh boy unless I'm losing it that would be Amy Shaw former Ministry of Environment employee for many years. I can't say much bad about her other than her choice of employer although the name does not give me any confidence but maybe she got out of the M.O.E. for a solid reason such as they are all talk, hot air and deception. Kudos to Geoff Moroz of the Region (staff) who confirmed that the region has been producing (i.e. pumping) more water than it can sustainably take. 

Clearly both his and Kevin Thomason's words and knowledge were given little weight by our clearly pro growth, pro development regional council. Remember that folks when you turn on the tap at home and get nothing but a big "Truck You" echoing down the pipe.

UNDERMINING, LYING, CHARACTER ASSASSINATION AND FOR WHAT?

 

You know I have far more respect for the Ruby Weber's of the world with their right wing, pro business positions and opinions then I do for the local, former, psuedo environmentalist Elmira residents who have cut and run. This is because I think that Ruby is a true believer whereas the others are simply opportunists looking out for number one and if that means switching sides mid stream then so be it.. Ruby was a Woolwich Council member for many years and very sympathetic to Uniroyal Chemical. She never forgot that they provided local jobs and tax revenue despite the mess they've made environmentally. In fact if she were still involved herself with TRAC and the former TAG I expect that she would have expressed her horror at how Uniroyal's promises have turned out to be nothing but wind. I also got to know her through a couple of other local issues and was pleased with her common sense as well as of her ethics of fair play. Quite possibly her, what I view as right wing, pro business attitudes, may very well have been due to her husband Amsey who I understood to be a self-made man. A self-made man who was an astute businessman who did well for himself and family.  

It is that lack of ethics, decency and fair play which have appalled me in regards to Sylvia Berg, Susan Bryant and Pat Mclean. Their modus operandi is not to declare war on someone they view as a threat or a risk to their plans but to claim friendship and collegiality along with common interests. They do not want their intended victim to even see coming their assault of lies and deceptions all intended to lower that individual's status, standing and positions be they environmental or otherwise. It is my opinion based upon personal experience that there is no room in their lives to treat others as well as they've been treated. Their incredibly self-centered approach is to slowly undermine while pretending the opposite. It does not matter that the intended victim doesn't even know that they are in the cross- hairs of their sights. The victim does not have to be intentionally undermining goals and plans that he/she are totally unaware of. In fact if asked they would likely, honestly respond oh no those self-centred goals can not be their's. 

Further thoughts have come to mind. Susan Bryant did not like Bill Strauss at all. She claimed to me that his speaking and education were an embarrassment to Woolwich Township. On the other hand both Pat McLean and Sandy Shantz liked Bill Strauss because as mayor he worked with them on Council or perhaps Pat thought she was manipulating him as she attempted with others. At first Pat made her dislike of Sandy clear based on losing her council seat to her. Later they were best buddies as both Susan and Pat worked on Sandy's election campaigns. In the scheme of lying manipulators I would rate Susan as number one, Sylvia as number 2 and Pat as number three.  

It has been specific Woolwich Council members working mostly through Susan and Pat that have enabled Uniroyal and successors, in harmony with the Ontario Ministry of Environment, to give Woolwich residents a totally inadequate and unsuccessful cleanup of their groundwater, surface water and soils and sediments.

A CULTURE OF LYING & DISINFORMATION: CAN IT BE OVERCOME TO SOLVE WATER PROBLEMS?

 

Some politicians might even admit quietly that lying to the public is an art form. They might suggest that every lie requires a fallback position. That fallback position might be new information that the public generally don't have. It might be scapegoating another political party for "obstructing" your legislative agenda. It might be blaming a higher tier of government such as the provinces blaming Ottawa and the Federal government for environmental failures. When in great trouble relying on "acts of God",  weather emergencies, outside influences, immigrants, the radical left whatever is the hot button issue of the day helps. Unions and labour unrest used to be a great scapegoat for corporations and businesses to blame when their outdated  products or technologies were no longer competitive. All in all accepting responsibility and taking blame for mistakes and failures is not the preferred option.

So according to today's K-W Record the Region of Waterloo are planning on using another $15 million dollars of taxpayers money to bring in a type of "workaround" technology.  This technology is referred to as container filtration systems.  A quick on-line check shows that several companies sell prefabricated water treatment systems generally for smaller applications including mining camps, isolated small locations involving using surface water (creeks & rivers) versus wells and even industrial plants. Yes they do claim that they can properly treat river water which in the case of the Grand River includes high turbidity (murkiness), pathogens such as bacteria and viruses, heavy metals, industrial discharges (legal or otherwise), parasites from cattle including cryptosporidium and less than perfect treatment of human wastes.  Lets not forget nice things like dead fish and animals that end up in the river not to mention the odd human body found immersed.

These new units apparently can produce 25 litres per second of clean water hence you would need at least eight of them to up our water supply by a whole 200 litres per second.  Boy that's not very much and certainly tells me that this is simply a workaround or maybe even a bandaid approach. Now I did the math on a couple of commercial units and they claim a somewhat higher volume of water produced than 25 l/sec but maybe the Region are simply being conservative in their estimates. Regardless based upon this one article and half an hour of research I am a little underwhelmed. 

But then again our local developers and builders want results yesterday and maybe that's exactly what they are going to get. Remember no problem is so serious and so bad that rushed, panicked decision making can not make it worse. Are our regional politicians up to the challenge? Hey we all elected the buggars so we get what we deserve.  

TECHNICAL REMEDIATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE (TRAC) MEETING ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19/26 AT 6 P.M..

 

It looks to me as if they have over time changed their process for Delegates to speak at this meeting of Woolwich/Lanxess vetted citizens.  Apparently if a Delegate is speaking to a new item not on the agenda, one must register eight days prior to the meeting. Now of course the fricken Agenda doesn't come out until one week before the meeting hence potential Delegates have no way of knowing if their specific TRAC related/mandated speaking topic is or isn't on the Agenda until after their deadline (8 days) is passed. So in other words you'd better register eight days beforehand unless of course you have an inside track to TRAC and can get tipped off early about the Agenda topics. I view this as a valid metaphor for the efficacy and honesty of this committee, which blame does not lie with individual members but with Woolwich Council.

This meeting may be observed silently and reverently from the chairs in the gallery or on Zoom. For those of us with twitchy stomachs and concerns about speaking out of turn (i.e. at all) then it may be safest to watch it by video a few days later on the Township's website (under Council Calendar). This I usually do and then post here both the good and the bad. The good may contain some kind words about restoring our groundwater and the bad may be the feeble excuses made and reasons allegedly out of their control as to why they have failed to do either that or to clean up the Uniroyal Chemical gross downstream contamination in the creek soils, sediments and floodplain soils. The other bad part is the unwillingness or inability for the members as a whole to stand up and call out Lanxess and the MECP for their never ending bullshit and junk science. There simply is no hard questioning as to why this project goes on and on for decades (36 years) without successful completion.

 

ZERO RESPONSE TO ANY WATER QUESTIONS TO THE REGION DESPITE REGIONAL CHAIR & COUNCILLORS RECEIVING THEM IN WRITING

 

It really is beyond shameful. Yet not surprising when you look at how deceitful either councillors or somebody has been to the public regarding our water supply (& quality) for decades. To me it would seem that that is the councillors' job to respond to serious questions whether from uninformed citizens or even better informed citizens such as myself. Having read their Annual Water Reports for many years I've learned where the opportunities are for gilding the lily and where and how likely problems with certain wells are hidden or camouflaged. All of those questions have been sent directly to multiple regional councillors plus the Chair Karen Redman.  No response.

Today's K-W Record has a very interesting article by Aislinn Clancy, Green Party M.P.P. for Kitchener Centre titled "Who's protecting Waterloo Region's water?". She appropriately takes aim at the provincial Doug Ford (Conservative) government for numerous offences against the environment including water supply and quality. Her article ends with "Water is life and we cannot take it for granted."

SO HAS THE MAYOR OF WILMOT TOWNSHIP SOLD OUT HER CONSTITUENTS TO THE REGION?

 

Or in the alternative has she extracted meaningful concessions or favours from the Region beneficial to Wilmot residents? As is usual citizens and voters likely will be left in the dark about that. What caught my eye in yesterday's K-W Record article titled : "Humane society project at standstill due to water crisis" was the mention of the 1980 Regional policy restricting the transfer of water from Wilmot production wells into other areas of the Region such as Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. There was a good reason for that policy back in 1980 as Township farmers and city residents had concerns even then about the security of their water supply. They realized that the growing cities were already eyeing their water supply and they the Township were having none of it. I think it should be a public matter as to what has been proposed in exchange for mayor Salonen handing over water access to the Region. Just off the top of my head I have to wonder if the removal of the Region's 700 acre shovel ready land acquisition was the sweetener.

Not for the first time Kitchener mayor Barry Vrbanovik has suggested that 50% of planned and unbuilt water capacity coming online within the next five years should be directed to support development approvals. Wow but he is sure signaling his expected financial and other support at the polls by our local development groups and lobbies by pushing that idea. Gee using mayor Vrbanovic's logic maybe I can get a million dollar interest free bank loan based upon my planned and unreceived monies from my 2019 book : " Elmira Water Woes: The Triumph of Corruption, Deceit and Citizen Betrayal".  

As my wife tells me, wait to buy my superyacht until AFTER the money is in the bank not before. Maybe the same should happen with the PUBLIC'S water as well.

$81 MILLION EXTRA WOULD BE MORE PALATABLE AFTER WE LEARN WHO MESSED UP AND HOW

 

Was there an element of "act of God" or even bad luck involved? Has climate change caused greater more subtle effects than we ever imagined? Did a senior, regional employee experience a heart rending personal tragedy that totally flattened them? Could there be an element of sabotage involved whether by hire or personal? Did group think and personal loyalty overcome common sense and good decision making? Region of Waterloo citizens deserve answers to these questions and others. Now is not the time to be protecting individuals or groups from the consequences of bad decisions no matter how well intentioned they might have been. This most especially includes local region councillors. Could there be a group of councillors with far too much influence over the rest who need to step back somewhat?

In today's Woolwich Observer we are advised by reporter Julian Gavaghan that spending $1.2 million for nine new hires is the first step and top priority for regional council. Or at least Chair Karen Redman says that is so.  Apparently that conclusion is based upon a staff report dated January 29/26. Hmm now I wonder who on staff wrote the report.  I also wonder if this is an old report with a new date or if it is actually something new. If it's a recycled old report then the first question has to be why didn't Council act sooner? Were they too much in awe of local developers and builders or even of Premier Doug Ford to take any controversial steps for fear of enraging powerful local interests? 

Then of course there is the simple issue of institutional lying. "Officials stressed the issue is not related to water quality...". Really? If the Grand River either had fewer or better Sewage Treatment Systems  would its' treatment costs be lower? If more cattle were kept out of the Canagagigue Creek, Conestogo River, Nith River and Grand River would Grand River water quality improve markedly without expensive treatment? Then of course we have salt washed into our creeks and rivers both from our cities and our highways. All of these reasons are why Grand River water treatment is so expensive. 

Regarding our groundwater a number of wells in Cambridge have been drilled deeper to get by industrial contaminated zones. Other wells have been shut down and not just in Elmira. Wells as shown in the Region's Annual Water Report that each year are shut down for significant periods of time likely are being "managed" via intermittent pumping of contaminant plumes to lessen the amount of contaminated water being put in the system. Routine mixing of cleaner wells with dirtier, more contaminated wells has also been going on for years. All of these factors affect treatment costs as well as operating costs. Sorry folks but today's quantity problems are directly related to ongoing quality problems affecting the operation of the system.

Then finally there is the big question. Actually how much water is available from  our local moraines and aquifers on a sustainable basis? Without that knowledge everything else is just political hot air and wishful thinking. 

BACK IN 2004 DR. HENRY REGIER WROTE AN ESSAY ON MODERN RISK ASSESSMENT (RA) AFTER RESEARCHING CHEMTURA'S RA OF THEIR SITE

 

I remember being shocked and flabbergasted by the shallowness and apparent amateurishness of Chemtura's results. Their RA was to determine if their site somehow was a threat to either human beings or wildlife. According to their scientific study the only human beings at risk were trespassers and the only wildlife at risk were shrews. Now the shrews ate worms contaminated with dioxin which explained their health risks but nary a word about predators of shrews . Keep in mind that both DDT and dioxins bio-accumulate in concentration as they move up the food chain. So what about hawks, owls, foxes, mink, weasels, coyotes and other consumers of shrews?  

Trespassers wandering aimlessly on their site allegedly were at risk. Perhaps these trespassers were kind enough to wear large signs distinguishing themselves from employees, contractors, invited visitors etc.  This would of course explain why only errant and  occasional trespassers were more susceptible to any of the hundreds of various manufactured poisons as well as poisons produced as by-products of fungicides, herbicides, pesticides, insecticides etc. Also from personal experience I can testify as to the noxious odours and fumes emanating from the two east side consolidation pits prior to their removal from the sub-surface.

Dr. Regier along with myself and others were members of CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee). Chemtura explained their various RA rationales and assumptions to CPAC although not particularly in detail or with specifics. Dr. Regier made it his business to professionally investigate the process and procedures around this Risk Assessment (RA). He by invitation and in person talked to a number of Ministry of Environment personnel with expertise in RA as well as other professional sources. He then later synthesized what he was told and advised into an essay which he provided//published in 2004.

I enclose merely the first several sentences of it as follows: 

"In recent years the environment agencies of the Canadian and Ontario governments have implemented a bureaucratic process of Risk Assessment ostensibly to satisfy a commitment to the Precautionary Principle, inter alia. In effect the process abstracts, truncates and devolves difficult issues from the political arena to a conventional bureaucracy with limited competence on these matters. A costly, junk science version of a shell game may result. Whether or not it was the subversive intention of political operators "unfriendly to the environment" to do so, the process of Risk Assessment actually implemented seems designed to cripple a commitment to effective precaution or clean-up. In addition to treating this subject generically from a perspective of post-normal science, personal experiences with Risk Assessment related to contamination of a creek in Elmira will be described. An alternative participatory process for making decisions in such cases was published by officials of Ontario's environment ministry some years ago, but seems to have been ignored."

Dr. Regier thankfully is still alive and kicking and recently passed this essay and words onto some academic colleagues as well as myself.  These words as well as my personal experiences with TWO Risk Assessments, one by Chemtura and one by Lanxess Canada have formed my opinion of the second RA regarding the downstream Canagagigue Creek. To call that most recent RA a "...costly, junk science version of a shell game..." is far too kind.  The TRAC and TAG committees of Woolwich Council have either forgotten or never understood the criticism and concerns of myself and some committee members. One former member, Joe Kelly, was both accurate and clear in his descriptions of shovel sediment sampling versus using core samplers. Other issues included a plethora of Non-Detect (ND) results due to lab Method Detection Limits (MDL) in excess of health criteria. Locational sampling biases were but another flaw in the field work surrounding a RA which claimed that there were 

                              "...NO UNACCEPTABLE RISKS "  in the downstream Creek.

No proper, independent health studies combined with junk sampling and junk science. I mean Woolwich Township will happily throw their own volunteer citizen committee members under the bus as they have in the past (2008 & 2015). That is your eventual purpose TRAC. Do you think professional politicians are dumb enough to take the blame both after the 2028 groundwater failure and professional, unbiased academic papers begin to condemn decades of Elmira/Uniroyal junk science?   

HAS A WILMOT GRAVEL PIT EXPOSED AN ONGOING SOURCE OF SALT IN OUR GROUNDWATER?

 

Remember the groundwater contamination in Waterloo Region is not only TCE (trichloroethylene), benzene, chlorinated solvents, NDMA; it's also nitrates, glyphosate (Round Up) and salt.  The salt of course comes from our roads and sidewalks in the winter to reduce slips and falls as well as auto accidents. In today's K-W Record however we learn that a new gravel pit in Wilmot Township, situated above the Waterloo Moraine has been accepting truckloads of snow this winter.  The title of the article by Terry Pender is "Ministry shuts down snow dump in Wilmot Township". One estimate is 50 truckloads of snow in the past two weeks being dumped at the surface of the Waterloo Moraine in the groundwater recharge zone.  The likelihood of this snow being contaminated with salt either from roads, driveways or parking lots is extremely high. 

Snow dumping is not permitted at this gravel pit under the license issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) hence the owner was ordered to cease and desist. Allegedly the MNR. conduct regular inspections to ensure compliance with the terms of their gravel pit license however just like their sister ministry the MECP (Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks), that is highly unlikely especially in the winter time. This case like many was initiated by local citizens' complaints. 

The timing of course is exquisite as just last week the Region of Waterloo announced that more water would be diverted from the Shingleton Wellfield in Wilmot Township to K-W and Elmira. Kudos to Rory Farnan and Samantha Lernout of "Citizens for Safe Groundwater"  for their vigilance and action. 

I too in decades past have reported gravel pits for illegal dumping up here in Woolwich Township. Unfortunately there wasn't at the time a very public water supply crisis and absolutely nothing was done by our unesteemed Ministry of Environment (MOE) . Unfortunately gravel pits especially near the end of their gravel production time are prime areas for burying stuff you can't (or shouldn't) take to the Waterloo Region, Erb St. Landfill. I would think that dirty snow from our streets and highways is a prime candidate for illegal dumping in multiple Regional gravel pits in the winter because come spring the evidence literally melts away. 

Closer to home let's not forget our own snowdump here in Woolwich Township. It's right above the former First St. Landfill which is actually sitting upon reclaimed ground that used to be below the Canagagigue Creek before it was straightened in 1963 or 64 to allow the building of the Elmira Sewage Treatment Plant. Where exactly do you think all the salt, debris and contaminants end up every spring after snowmelt?  

Quoting Rory Farnan "All this talk of protection, but no teeth." He is correct and it is done intentionally by our politicians at all levels. They pass legislation allegedly to protect their citizens but rarely include serious enforcement provisions because afterall our developers, industrialists, gravel pit operators and employers are all well organized into lobby groups and who also financially support political parties while demanding relief from onerous and strict enforcement of many laws. Finally is it not likely that politicians themselves are reluctant to see laws affecting themselves and their duties being enforced rigorously? Hypothetically perhaps this might even include laws around election financing and reporting. 

WILL "WATER BANKRUPTCY" BE THE END OF THE WILMOT LAND GRAB AS WELL AS OF THE NON-CLEANUPS IN ELMIRA & CAMBRIDGE?

 

It may be too much to hope for. Our politicians do best looking at short term problems not long term ones. Federally that would also apply to crime which by its' nature tends to be quiet and at least somewhat hidden from most of our views especially depending upon where we live. I expect that illegal drug use and petty crime go hand in hand in our inner cities and organized crime more obvious in Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal and Vancouver with unfortunate hot spots in Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and economically disadvantaged cities. Our federal government's response is to confiscate legally acquired firearms whose owners are licensed from the very same federal government. My understanding is that convicted criminals plus those with a history of serious mental illness can not obtain firearms licenses. So the federal government's crime fighting consists of disarming those proven to be law abiding.  That plan should work by fooling the public for what ten minutes, ten days, ten months ?

On January 26, 2026 the K-W Record published an article by a Director of the Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Mr. Kaveh Madani. His premise is that "Many natural water systems are no longer able to return to their historical conditions. These systems are in a state of failure - water bankruptcy." He further states "Despite these problems, nations continue to increase water withdrawals to support the expansion of cities, farmland, industries and now data centres." He has many other suggestions including respecting the science that tells our politicians when enough is enough. In other words don't keep growing and expanding population and economic growth blindly believing that engineering can solve all problems including water shortages. On its' own it cannot.

I'm still waiting for Wilmot Township to respond to the Region's plans for taking more water from their groundwater to satisfy Kitchener, Waterloo , Elmira etc. Why shouldn't the mayor of Wilmot, Natasha Salonen tell Woolwich to clean up their own act? Clean up our Uniroyal, Nutrite and Varnicolor Chemical contaminated groundwater so that we can once again be self-sufficient in water. When Cambridge finally admit their issues with TCE (and more) contaminated groundwater and actually seriously attempt to remove it at source rather than at their treatment facilities (Middleton Well Field etc.) then they might actually have enough reasonably priced water to send to K-W. The failure to clean up Breslube (now Safety-Kleen) decades ago assisted in shutting down two Kitchener wells, K70 and K71. Does Ms. Salonen think building a massive 700 acre industrial facility on top of agricultural land, combined with pumping groundwater on behalf of Kitchener-Waterloo  actually solve anything?

Difficult decisions in the PUBLIC interest need to be made now.