DR. HENRY REGIER AGAIN ADVISES ELMIRA BE DESIGNATED AS AN "AREA OF CONCER" 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.

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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.

REGION OF WATERLOO CRAPS ON WILMOT TOWNSHIP: IS WOOLWICH NEXT?

 

Something smells at regional council and the odour is floating all the way westwards to Wilmot Township. Natasha Salonen, mayor of Wilmot, may be trying to please two masters and it's not working.  She appropriately supported a motion to make data on the health of the underlying aquifer in Wilmot, public. It did not pass. She also voted unsucessfully along with four other councillors against the permitted taking of water from the Wilmot Centre wellfield for use in the cities. 

It certainly appears as if the majority of regional councillors have been able to overcome any squeamishness or heaven forbid guilt over the Region surreptitiously having been stealing Wilmot water for the last six years. As one local Wilmot resident stated "If the 1980 agreement cannot be trusted, what protection do we have?"  "Once trust is broken, it cannot be easily rebuilt."

There also appear to be possible discrepancies in the health of the aquifer underlying Wilmot. Regional staff apparently are handing out verbal assurances that water levels are healthy however now we are hearing that citizens complaints of drying up wells and wetlands are not just miles away but nearby the Wilmot Centre wellfield. It seems as if the so called data can be interpreted however the reader so decides. After decades of drivel, junk science and self-serving interpretations of a plethora of technical reports here in Elmira, Ontario I can appreciate how easy it is for highly motivated groups and authorities to interpret and see everything through rose coloured glasses.

Today's K-W Record article written by Luisa D'Amato is titled "Wilmot water pact down the drain". 

ARE DIOXINS AND DDT ACTUALLY DNAPLS AS WELL ?

 

Perhaps twenty years ago I asked that question of Jeff Merriman (Chemtura) at a public CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) meeting. Now most of the time Jeff was a pretty calm fellow but that particular question set him off. He became loud and agitated and behaved as if the question itself was a personal afront and secondly as if I had worded the question more like "You dirty dog are your disgusting Dioxin and DDT contaminants also further disgusting Dense Non Aqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLS) that only the most slovenly polluters would have on their site.?".

Now his response surprised me because it was a calm and serious question. I did not know the answer then and am still not certain if they could actually be defined as DNAPLS or not. My suspicion then and now is that they could be according to some DNAPL criteria but possibly usually are not for some reason or another. Also just to be perfectly clear I most certainly did not phrase the question with words like ", "slovenly", "disgusting", "dirty dog" etc..

Mr. Merriman strongly answered my question in the negative while somehow implying that the question itself was somehow inappropriate which for Jeff was unusual. Don't get me wrong, he was a company man through and through but still usually he at least attempted to answer questions, even difficult ones, without being unusually defensive. This response of his was strange.

DNAPLS are known as "sinkers" because their density (specific gravity) is greater than 1 . This means that they will literally descend through both surface water as well as unsaturated and saturated soils (i.e. groundwater). Water has a density of 1 .   Generally DNAPLS also have a low solubility in water which means that unlike NDMA which readily and fully dissolves in water, DNAPLS have a maximum mathematical solubility in water which can limit the extent of their groundwater contamination. For example chlorobenzene is a recognized DNAPL chemical with a solubility of around 440,000 parts per billion.  While 440,000 is a big number it isn't when compared to one billion. In fact as a fraction chlorobenzene can only dissolve in water less than one half part per thousand parts of chlorobenzene. The problem arises with chlorobenzene as with many DNAPLS that their low solubility in water (i.e. 440,000/1,000,000,000) still greatly exceeds their human health drinking water standard of only 80 parts per billion. Both Dioxin and DDT have very low solubilty in water although certainly Dioxins solubility exceeds the drinking water standard which is an extremely low 15 parts per quadrillion or  15/1,000,000,000,000,000).  The Ontario Drinking Water Standards (ODWS) does have a health criteria for DDT which makes me believe that DDT under some circumstances can dissolve in water at a rate greater than the ODWS. If not then why have a drinking water standard at all?

There are numerous other DNAPL criteria that I believe Dioxin and DDT have. The real issue may be the  difficulty in finding them and other DNAPLS in the subsurface. This is because they are able to migrate under gravity flow versus the usual subsurface groundwater fllow.  They can also penetrate both aquifers and aquitards and may or may not end up in depressions where they are capable of slowly dissolving over decades and centuries at concentrations greater than drinking water standards. Despite these difficulties, at least since January 2007 when Drs. Cherry and Parker (then Univ. of Waterloo) advised myself, Susan B., Wilf Ruland and Pat McLean that they should be removed or remediated from the subsurface, this world class professional advice has been ignored at CPAC, RAC, TAG and now TRAC.

I believe that both DDT and Dioxins are now probably in the off-site Elmira Aquifers courtesy of this negligence.

 

  

  

K-W RECORD KEEPS THE PRESSURE ON WATERLOO REGION

 

Tomorrow is the big day for the Region as they see whether or not private discussions/negotiations with Wilmot Township mayor Natasha Salonen will bear fruit. Keep in mind that regardless of new municipal governance legislation coming from Ontario, she like all other regional mayors will face the voters this October. Hence if she appears to bend too easily to regional wishes to take Wilmot water she might pay for that  at the polls and lose her job.

Meanwhile two new articles have appeared in today's K-W Record. The one mostly deals with more incentives for large water users to cut back on their usage and the other mentions some water upgrades to the Mannheim Service Area. This second article by Bill Doucet advises that 60 litres per second of water will be restored to the capacity of the Mannheim Service Area via upgrades to the Parkway water system located near Fairway Rd. and Manitou Dr. in Kitchener. Now of course as we already know these wells have long had trichloroethylene (TCE) in them courtesy of the former Deilcraft furniture building on the site. If the name Deilcraft rings a bell it may be due to association with Electrohome and or with Shanley St. in Kitchener which had an abandoned former Deilcraft factory there for many decades also with TCE contamination in the grounwater.

The first article reminds us that "...the region incorrectly combined the capabilities of two separate systems in its capacity calculations.". Now this is yet still another unanswered question by the Region of Waterloo.  Presumably the Record are referring to the two different water treatment systems namely the Middleton System using chlorine versus the Mannheim System using chloramination. Why are there two systems and why can't the treated water be interchangeable whether used in Cambridge versus used in say Waterloo?  At one point in time I suspected that the more highly contaminated (especially with bacteria and viruses) Grand River water required stronger treatment and maybe that was the reason for chloramination versus straight chlorine.

This first article also points out that the region has been over pumping the Mannheim Water Service Area. Presumably again the reporter is referring to specific wells very close to Kitchener's west side and just barely into Wilmot Township. This over pumping was also mentioned in the second article done by Bill Doucet although he referred to it as the Mannheim well field. That description I believe to be more accurate. 

Finally there still has been no followup in the Record regarding the shutdown Greenbrook wellfield (a little too close to the Ottawa St. landfill) or the very long time shut down Woolner and Pompeii wells beside the Grand River very close to Breslau (& Safety-Kleen).  

WHY WAS UNIROYAL SO TERRIFED OF GOING BACK TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL APPEAL BOARD (EAB) IN LATE 1992 ?

 

The simplest and most straightforward answer is DNAPLS, DNAPLS & DNAPLS. Boy is hindsight ever clearer and easier to see what has gone on behind the scenes. Uniroyal also had the October 1991 sweetheart deal negotiated between themselves and the Ontario Min. of Environment (MOE) to protect.  The  EAB announced their decision, after being unceremoniously dumped by the MOE in October/November 1991, that their jurisdiction remained and provided any party asked for the hearing to restart, they would do so. This also explains the timing to me as to why APTE did not ask for the hearing to restart. Susan B. and Sylvia were both made offers they could not refuse including lifetime permanent seats at the table provided they played ball on the DNAPL issue. 

Despite quotes in local newspapers from Susan B. in late 1992 stating that DNAPLS were the biggest environmental issue at Uniroyal Chemical she and Sylvia willingly sold the farm on the matter in late 1993. This even included a critique of consultant Conestoga Rover's DNAPL efforts by Sylvia, Glenys McMullen and myself on APTE letterhead in the fall of 1993. December 10, 1993 the MOE inexplicably (other than corruption & backroom deals) accepted Conestoga Rovers (CRA) and Uniroyal's plainly pathetic latest DNAPL report. Then APTE (i.e. Sylvia ) inexplicably without prior APTE consultation also accepted CRA and the MOE's new DNAPL position.

I've known for many decades that APTE buggered themselves and the public interest with their bizarre turnaround on DNAPLS in 1993-94 but until 2008 I felt that they had made a horrible but honest decision. I was wrong. The evidence of their (Sylvia & Susan B.) being co-opted by the polluter has only risen since. This co-opting of the citizens group via its' leadership is the primary reason that we still do not have either a restored aquifer nor a clean downstream Creek today.  That said the cooperation (legal or illegal) by our elected politicians has certainly aided and abetted the polluter, their successors and fellow travellors.

Most citizens are straightforward albeit complacent. The ambitious ones often become politicians and quickly learn how to deceive. Those that can't get elected sometimes learn how to gain respect and authority in other ways. Being "friends" with people in power and authority is one of those ways. One that I hope never to learn.  

WATERLOO REGION RELEASES WATER INFO IN DRIBS & DRABS

 

Today's K-W Record has an article written by Luisa D'Amato titled "Regional council advised to rescind restricting draw from Wilmot aquifers".  Now according to a staff report supposed to be debated at regional council this Wednesday; both the Wilmot Centre wellfield and the Mannheim wellfield draw from the same underground aquifer known as AFB2. This particular aquifer is the largest one beneath a very large portion of the Waterloo moraine. The Wilmot Centre wellfield includes wells K50, K51 and K52. Samantha Lernout of Citizens for Safe Ground Water is appropriately demanding transducer data (i.e. presumably groundwater elevation levels)   since 2019 for these three wells. 

While the Region admit to over pumping at the Mannheim wellfield and that it should be allowed to rest and recover, apparently according to the Region water levels are fine in the Wilmot Centre wellfield and can be drawn from further. Now here is where the Region have to expect pushback at least until and after citizens have seen and analyzed water elevation levels from the Wilmot Centre wellfield. I hope that regional councillors are not so stupid as to rubber stamp the taking of more water from Wilmot Township this Wednesday until, at the earliest, citizens and other stakeholders have had time to look at the data presented. Right now the Region's credibility is on thin ice and any more "mistakes" in communicating honest information and data will never be forgotten or forgiven. 

GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT BETWEEN POLITICIANS - WELL THAT WAS BOUND TO BLOW UP IN EVERYBODY'S FACES

 Today's Woolwich Observer has a story by Meg Deak titled "Wilmot demands that Waterloo Region reveal well monitoring data". According to this story there really wasn't a written agreement at all between Wilmot and the Region regarding Wilmot water being pumped to the three cities. So let me get this straight. Is this just like my accountant friend's quote that  "a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's not written on." ?  Apparently the Region of Waterloo think so albeit that's with some pretty convoluted language suggesting that it didn't really happen it was just all a test of sorts. Hmm maybe the word "test" is the problem. Wilmot are supposed to think that the "testing" being discussed has to do with aquifer capacity and sustainability whereas the Region view the whole thing as merely a "test" of the gullibility of rural politicians.

Wilmot councillor Lillianne Dunstall is having none of it. Especially the part about the Region don't have groundwater levels readily available to share with Wilmot. Next Wednesday Regional Council want to discuss officially and formally taking water from Wilmot Township for use in the nearby cities. Both Ms. Dunstall and mayor Natasha Salonen want more transparency from the Region as well as better accountability as far as monitoring the water requirements of never ending growth. 

NOVEMBER 10, 2022 LETTER TO THE EDITOR

 

This letter to the editor (Woolwich Observer) was published over three years ago. As usual exactly zero response or comment from various guilty stakeholders in and around Elmira, Ontario. In one sense that is a good thing. The title put on my Letter To The Editor is "Uniroyal problems persist, but so too does inaction". I view the lack of response, whether verbal or legal, as both an admission as well as  a belated understanding that poorly crafted, weak denials can be worse than admissions sometimes.

My letter to the editor is a broad indictment of the system currently allowing polluters to run their own cleanups with little more than superficial oversight by the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MOE).  Afterall it was the Ministry's shoddy oversight in the first place that got us all into the Elmira Water Crisis and so many more around the province.  Yes certainly the Ministry have been underfunded and understaffed. That has always been an intentional situation by each and every provincial government for many decades ever since Bill Davis first announced the beginnings of that new Ministry. It was simply virtue signaling to the electorate that their government would include environmental preservation among their other poorly managed ministries such as labour and transportation. Make no mistake Mr. Davis most likely had to calm corporate fears of any serious attempt by the government to reverse many decades of corporate and industrial environmental abuse and damage .  

This is the trick of governance. You must appeal to the masses publicly and tell them what they want to hear while at the same time quietly assuring the much, much smaller but powerful elite and wealthy that you will not change the status quo which they love so much. 

My letter focuses on technical reports produced by client driven consultants on behalf of the polluter (Uniroyal/Lanxess).  It also focuses on the Sept. 1, 2022  MOE report titled " Sediment and forage fish monitoring results from September 2020 in Canagagigue Creek".  Finally I focus on the long denied but blatantly obvious conflicts of interest in the entire remediation system here in Elmira.