Thursday, August 27, 2026

OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE OF NDMA CONTRIBUTION TO THE ELMIRA AQUIFERS BY VARNICOLOR CHEMICAL

 AS PREVIOUSLY STATED MECP & UNIROYAL ILLEGALLY COVERED UP VARNICOLOR'S CULPABILITY IN ORDER FOR MECP TO SAVE FACE & CREDIBILITY, WITH UNIROYAL GIVEN CLEANUP CONCESSIONS SAVING THEM MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

The evidence is overwhelming and includes witnesses and affidavits of an on-site can coating process in which the liquid wastes including dimethylamine were dumped down the drain into the illegal backyard disposal system. NDMA analytical results for both Varnicolor groundwater and soils, proven chlorinated solvents having penetrated into the Municipal Aquifer, both free phase DNAPLS and LNAPLS on the Varnicolor site indicating that the volumes being discharged were far greater than the groundwater could dissolve and finally the fact that Uniroyal and successors have admitted failure to successfully remediate our drinking water aquifers by the mandated 2028 deadline. This is due partially to the excess chlorobenzene and NDMA discharged illegally into the Elmira aquifers by multiple polluters including Uniroyal, Varnicolor Chemical and maybe more.

The witnesses and affidavits include a former Varnicolor and Uniroyal employee who operated the can coating process as well as myself. The former Varnicolor and Uniroyal employee's Affidavit is in the Environmental Appeal Board's Brief of Documents Volume 9.  NDMA analytical results include Golder Associates Hydrogeological Assessment of Varnicolor Chemical as well as the Addendum to that. One on site shallow well has a result 48 times greater than the drinking water standard with others lower but still greater than drinking water standards. On site soils had results also considerably higher than the groundwater concentrations. A Supplementary Brief Of Documents by the Environmental Appeal Board (Jan. -June 1990) also has a result of NDMA  in a tank farm sump at 14 parts per billion. Keep in mind that the drinking water standard for NDMA is .009 parts per billion. The proven half dozen chlorinated solvents from Varnicolor that penetrated into the Elmira Municipal aquifer included trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride, two highly toxic compounds. The first proof of this occurred in May 2016 in Woolwich Council chambers during a public Risk Assessment of the former Varnicolor Chemical. The media did pick this up briefly plus two years ago a consultant for Lanxess publicly confirmed at a TRAC meeting that six chlorinated solvents from Varnicolor had gotten into the Elmira Municipal Aquifer. DNAPLS and LNAPLS at Varnicolor were confirmed by Golder Associates as well as LNAPLS by the owner of Elmira Pump, Jim Germann at the public meeting.    

It is public knowledge that the cleanup has failed to deliver as promised or on time. What is not public knowledge is that the Ontario government were clients of Varnicolor Chemical and it wasn't recycled solvents that they were buying. They were buying disposal of toxic liquid wastes from various Ontario Ministries including the Ministry of Transport. Some of these wastes included plastic pails of trichloroethane. They also were disposing of lab wastes with Varnicolor. Some might find a bit of a conflict of interest here in that Ministry of Environment inspectors were beyond lenient with so many infractions, shortcuts and obvious illegalities on both Varnicolor properties in Elmira. Other strange behaviour by the Ontario Ministry of Environment includes their refusal to provide requested cleanup documentation including the 2016 Risk Assessment to myself, the person who blew the whistle on Varnicolor and lost my job over it. They also have refused to acknowledge further off-site cleanups precipitated by Varnicolor's pollution to the immediate west of Varnicolor; perhaps all in the spirit of  collusion with Uniroyal and successors, to the detriment of the public interest.   

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